HUNDREDS of engineering jobs are at risk in the Neath Valley.

Global automotive giant TRW could close its plant at Neath Road in Resolven with the loss of more than 200 staff by early 2011.

The firm has already met workers and is considering plans to shut down its operation in South Wales, which it claims has been making a loss for several years.

A total of 225 people are employed at the site which specialises in steering systems for the car industry.

One worker, who asked not to be named, said they were "disappointed" with the announcement, but had been expecting it.

"I am obviously devastated," he said.

"It has given us a good living and it was a good place to work until the latter years when it began to go a bit sour.

"Once it was employing 1,200 people. The bottom line is that we knew it was going to close and now we know when."

Former employees also fear the closure could have a devastating effect on Resolven and reduce it to a ghost town.

Awful

Geraint Evans, 59, from Company Street, said: "It is a tragedy.

"I worked there for 33 years. I think it is terrible and will devastate the village. There will be a knock-on effect.

"Resolven could end up like a ghost town. The workers will be devastated, especially the younger ones."

Margaret Pritchard, 59, from Pentywyn, said: "It will be awful news if it happens.

"It is going to be terrible for the village and all the surrounding areas will be affected.

"My husband used to work there and he was there for 40 years after he left school. Luckily he took early retirement, but a lot of his friends are still there."

TRW steering in Europe operations director Neville Rudd said the company's fortunes had been hit by a reduction in vehicle building in Europe as a result of the global economic crisis.

He said: "The potential site closure is due to the significant overcapacity that we have across our operations in Europe resulting from the technology shift from hydraulic power to electric power steering systems."

Mr Rudd said the decision to consider closing the Resolven site was not easy to make and all possible solutions were considered.

He said: "We will now work to support our employees through this difficult period of consultation."

Neath MP and Shadow Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has been in talks with management at the firm and Unite trade union leaders since January in a bid to keep the plant open.

Yesterday Mr Hain said he was "bitter and frustrated" at the news work was likely to come to an end at the site.

Mr Hain claims TRW is facing a 20 per cent over-capacity in its steering system plants across Europe, including its site in Resolven.

Savings

He said the workers were willing to take "cost savings" which would hit their earnings by more than 15 per cent, with a possibility of further cost savings if the Resolven plant had been guaranteed a future.

However, he said other TRW plants in Europe were also volunteering pay reductions and government support.

He said: "In the end it was a dog-eat-dog situation.

"Every time Resolven offered a new cost saving, one of the continental plants would trump it, or so management have maintained."

Mr Hain also said Neath Port Talbot Council and the Assembly had both provided "generous funding" to ensure TRW Resolven was kept open.

According to the Neath MP, local authority leader Ali Thomas and his officers came up with an imaginative proposal worth more than £100,000 a year.

Mr Hain also said the Assembly offered several millions of pounds of support for new investment and new production lines.

He said: "Together with the workforce's own willingness to reduce their earnings, the company had a massive package of funding support and cost savings to take the factory into profitable future."

The Evening Post was contacted yesterday by a source, believed to be an employee at the site, who said TRW announced to its workers at 1pm that a 90-day consultation process would take place, starting today.

The source said: "The workers were told at 12.40pm to meet in the club. Most workers will finish in December, with final plant closure sometime in the first quarter of 2011."