CAR giant Ford is making even bigger cuts to its British workforce by getting rid of 3,100 jobs in the next year-and-a-half.

The company announced that it is slashing its European payroll by a fifth, including British workers.

2 Ford has already announced the loss of 1,700 jobs with the closure of the Bridgend engine factory, but now that number is set to almost double in the UK

It means around 12,000 of the 51,000 workers will lose their jobs as six of the 24 sites on the continent are shut, including the engine plant in Bridgend, Wales. That closure had already been announced, with 1,700 workers due to get the push before the end of 2020.

But yesterday Ford revealed even more swingeing cuts, with a further 1,400 UK employees on the hit list.

The carmaker says it hopes to achieve most of these through voluntary redundancy.

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Stuart Rowley, president of Ford of Europe, insisted: “Separating employees and closing plants are the hardest decisions we make.” This is Ford’s latest attempt to “redesign” itself under Jim Hackett, who became president two years ago.

Losses in Europe in recent years have been blamed on poor ­diesel sales, lower demand and a drop in the value of the pound.

It hopes to bring its operation back to profit by making electric options for every Ford model.

2 Ford has heaped more misery on UK workers with news that a further 1,400 workers will join the 1,700 already facing the axe Credit: Alamy

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