WORKERS at a relocating electronics company in Hampshire have been told they can keep their jobs - but only if they move out to Poland.

Bosses at APW Electronics announced before Christmas that the company was relocating to a factory acquired in Bydgoszcz, and 112 jobs would go.

The move was just 19 months after they axed 30 jobs and assured the Daily Echo that remaining jobs were secure and that it expected to expand.

The American-owned company hit the headlines in the summer when staff claimed management would not give them time off to celebrate the Golden Jubilee, which bosses denied.

Now employees at its Chandler's Ford factory have all received a letter offering temporary and permanent positions at the new central Poland factory, 700 miles away, where wages are a third less than the UK.

In a statement on the internet APW's chief executive officer, Richard Sim, assured the Polish workforce that their jobs were safe and they will invest in the plant.

A worker, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "That's exactly what they told us and it wasn't true, so if I was one of their Polish employees I might be slightly concerned.

"This is a smack in the face for us. They are offering us jobs that we can't possibly take up in Poland.

"The wages are awful and no-one I know has ever been there or knows anything about the country. None of us speak Polish.

"Many of us are family men and we can't just uproot our wives and children to live in a developing country we have never even seen before."

The letter states: "We are in the process of developing a new site in Poland and transferring business to that site. We will be considering all opportunities for Chandler's Ford employees who are made compulsorily redundant to transfer into this project team, either on a permanent or temporary basis. "

APW chief Mr Sim said on the internet: "Looking forward, we expect to invest in and leverage the capabilities of the Bydgoszcz operation."

The Daily Echo repeatedly tried to contact APW about the controversial relocation but nobody was available for comment.

More on this story in tonight's Daily Echo.