Jobs appeal to ministers as 1,100 axed by Jarvis

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and Yorkshire Minister Rosie Winterton are being petitioned in the hope of preventing at least some of the losses from the head office in York and other sites including Doncaster, Leeds, Glasgow, Newcastle and Peterborough.

York MP Hugh Bayley, Selby MP John Grogan and York Council Labour group leader David Scott have written to the Ministers to seek their intervention.

Administrators from Deloitte maintained yesterday, however, that it was not possible for three Jarvis companies to continue trading in the absence of further funding after announcing 1,100 jobs are to go.

Union leaders have also called on the Government to launch a "last-ditch" rescue package and claimed Network Rail had failed to give assurances about Jarvis contracts continuing.

General secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association Gerry Doherty said: "Yet again, the pain brought about by the cuts programme being pursued by Network Rail is felt by rail workers, many of whom have dedicated their working lives to the rail industry."

Network Rail director of investment projects Simon Kirby said talks are continuing with the administrators and suppliers, and contingency plans are in place to ensure work that cannot be performed by Jarvis can still be carried out.