NEARLY 100 workers at an engineering plant may soon lose their jobs because of a slump in orders for luxury cars. Alloy Wheels International in Strood is blaming the redundancies on the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

The company says up to 98 of its 308 employees, ranging from office staff to shop floor workers, will be told on March 22 if they face redundancy.

It will be the second time in under two years the 65-year-old firm has faced major job losses. Another 200 staff were made redundant in May, 200.

Spokesman Sue Watt said: "Workers all over the site will be affected. They are all just waiting to hear. The atmosphere is quite subdued as you would expect. But then people have been expecting it for a while and I think they are just glad something is finally happening."

For the past six months Alloy Wheels has been struggling to cope as demand for luxury cars has decreased. Predictions for the future have given the company no hope that things are going to pick up in the short term, although the medium term forecasts are thought to be encouraging.

Any up-turn in the company's fortunes has also been hampered by the failure to find a new owner, despite a 12-month search, which has affected the securing of any new contracts.

The firm had only recently started to pick up sales after deciding, back in May 2000, to concentrate on being a specialist wheel manufacturer.