Hundreds of engineering workers today face an agonising wait to discover who will hold on to their jobs when their GKN factory is closed next year.

Around 460 West Midlands’ jobs are being axed by the car component manufacturer as it struggles with a dramatic slump in orders.

The firm delivered the shattering news in a series of meetings yesterday afternoon, revealing the Aldridge factory will close, along with the GKN foundry at Hamstead, Great Barr.

It leaves the 264 workers at Aldridge and the 102 at Hamstead all hoping to be selected for new jobs being created at the company’s remaining factory in Erdington, Birmingham.

Staff are hoping up to 100 jobs will be created in Birmingham, but GKN figures yesterday suggested only 43 jobs from Aldridge and Hamstead may be saved.

Erdington is to get £7 million investment over the next three years as it is modernised and takes on the work from the plants that will shut down.

Hamstead will close by the end of this year.

And Aldridge will shut in the middle of 2010.

In Telford, workers at GKN’s Hadley Castle plant were told 150 of the 900 jobs would go later this year.

Workers were left shocked and saddened at the news.