In just a short statement of 122 words Ford bosses sounded the death knell for the for the Southampton Transit factory.

In a statement released this afternoon they confirmed proposals to shut down the Swaythling site and as well as part of its massive Dagenham plant.

It also said all job losses would be voluntary redundancies with staff offered redeployment to another site.

The full Ford statement:

“Ford will continue to develop its UK operations as a centre of excellence for powertrain development and production. A new, next-generation, low-CO2 2.0-litre diesel engine is to be built in Dagenham that will power future Ford vehicles from 2016. The new engine will be designed and engineered at the Dunton technical Centre in Essex. As part of the restructuring of its European operations, Ford plans to close two facilities in the UK in mid-2013 – its vehicle assembly plant in Southampton, which builds the current Transit, and its stamping and tooling operations in Dagenham, which supplies the Southampton assembly plant and other plants. All UK separations are to be voluntary: affected employees in Southampton and Dagenham will be redeployed or offered separation terms”.