Bombardier Aerospace is to lay off 240 workers in Belfast as part of 1,980 redundancies being made worldwide.

Management at the company's Shorts subsidiary in Belfast yesterday confirmed the news from the parent company given to employees when they clocked on yesterday morning.

The lay-offs follow the announcement of 461 job losses at Belfast earlier this month and more than 900 redundancies announced since September 11th, 2001.

This will reduce the workforce at Shorts, which is Northern Ireland's largest industrial employer, to about 5,500.

The job losses, including 20 per cent of management positions, are centred at Bombardier's base in Montreal, where 951 are to go, and Toronto, where a further 365 jobs losses have been confirmed. More than 200 jobs will go in Tucson, Arizona, and another 250 losses will be spread throughout the company's other sites.

The company said yesterday it would temporarily cut back production of some of its aircraft programmes in Belfast, Montreal, Toronto and Kansas and this would affect business aircraft manufacturing in Belfast. The reductions will begin to take effect next month.

The company employs more than 80,000 people in 24 countries and said yesterday the job losses were necessary to maintain competitiveness.

A company statement said: "Belfast is a core part of Bombardier's aerospace business."

Mr Michael Ryan, vice-president and general manager added: "We are ensuring that a strong integrated design and manufacturing capability is retained here in order to maintain our competitiveness and to be ready for the upturn in the market when it comes.

"Throughout the past year we have endeavoured to minimise the impact of the difficult market conditions on our permanent workforce. Due to the continuing challenges in the aviation market, particularly the business aircraft market, the cuts are necessary in order to protect the remaining jobs and maintain our competitiveness."

Unions responded with shock. Representatives said that to deal with a new announcement in the middle of consultation on the last job losses was "very disturbing".

The North's industry minister said the losses were "a double blow" coming so soon after earlier announcements.

Meanwhile, 135 losses were announced yesterday by Getty Connections, a successful designer and manufacturer of electronics cables.

It blamed knock-on difficulties in the technology and communications sectors. The companyis based in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.