Staffordshire has seen the biggest fall in manufacturing jobs in the country since the last recession, a study revealed today – with the West Midlands deemed the worst-hit region.

The county saw a reduction of 21,100 jobs from 2006-2007 to last year, with the region seeing a fall of 119,000. Staffordshire’s pottery industry has been badly affected, with the number of manufacturing workers employed dropping from 74,200 to 53,100 in 2010-2011.

Major job losses included the closure of the Creda plant at Blythe Bridge in 2008.

There were also hundreds of posts cut at Fox’s Biscuits in Uttoxeter in 2010.

Job losses have continued in recent months with the closure of curtain walling and commercial windows maker Parry Bowen at Chasetown with the loss of 100 jobs in October.

The study for the GMB union found manufacturing job losses have been running at almost 3,400 a week across the country, with 700,000 fewer posts since the recession.

Numbers slumped from 3.5 million in 2006-2007 to 2.8m last year, with more cuts being announced in recent weeks.

Worcestershire saw a fall of 20,100 and in the West Midlands, manufacturing jobs fell from 426,000 to 307,000.

Paul Kenny, general secretary of the GMB, said today: “The Downing Street-led recession accelerated the haemorrhaging of jobs from UK manufacturing.

“In the UK as a whole the first four years of this recession has cost 706,300 manufacturing jobs.

“Governments since Thatcher, from both parties, have ignored warnings from GMB and others that this migration of manufacturing jobs is not sustainable.

“This march of the makers – two million of them in 16 years – is the most tragic economic story from Britain in the last two decades.”