Workers at Peugeot's UK car plant have agreed to take a pay cut in a last ditch attempt to save jobs.

About 2400 staff at the Ryton factory near Coventry voted to take home three per cent less pay in a bid to save 700 jobs. Amicus members were balloted on whether they would accept a wide-ranging cut in the working week or see the night-shift axed. Sixty-seven per cent of workers voted to retain the night shift.

The new working week could start as soon as September. Employees on the fourth shift, which works unsocial hours and attracts top money, will lose about 20 per cent of their pay, bringing them in line with colleagues. Falling European car sales forced the firm to reassess the viability of a fourth shift.

Duncan Simpson, national officer for the car industry at Amicus, praised Peugeot's decision. “The company could have closed that shift under their agreement with workers. The outcome augurs well for the future,” he says.