ENGINEERING giant Howden is to axe a compressor manufacturing site in Glasgow and switch some of the production to Europe with the loss of up to 20 jobs.

Confirmation came after several days of speculation fuelled by insiders who had claimed the closure announcement was to be made on a bank holiday.

Shocked workers were told management planned to shut its Howden Compressors site in the Craigton area of Glasgow and transfer production to a sister site in Renfrew.

"The closure-threatened plant has operated for at least 50 years and employs more than 100 workers.

Howden chiefs warned part of the production process will be switched to other plants in Europe which will mean the loss of about a fifth of the workforce.

The engineering giant owns two compressor-related firms which serve major sectors including oil and gas - Howden Compressors Ltd (HCL) and Howden Power Compressors (HPC).

Global human resources director Donnah Malone said: "Our compressor companies face a relentless challenge to stay competitive and we intend to consolidate our Glasgow operations of HCL and HPC on a single site at our Renfrew location which is also home to Howden Group, Howden Technology, Howden UK and Howden Process Compressors.

"This will allow us to retain and re-locate the majority of the skilled manufacturing and engineering work in Renfrew with some high-volume products transferring to European factories where overhead is lower.

"These proposals could result in the regrettable loss of HCL employees."