TVR has temporarily laid off half of its workforce due to a slump in orders for its sports cars.

The British manufacturer told 125 employees to stay at home on Monday, with no pay, union leaders said yesterday.

Workers at the Blackpool-based company said they had already agreed to delay a January pay rise until June.

The Transport General Worker’s Union said: “The workers have bent over backwards to help TVR. Now they’ve been stabbed in the back.”

One worker, who asked not to be named, said: "The management have assured us that our jobs are safe and now they turn around and do this.

"How can you trust a company that does one thing and turns around and does the opposite? "I am still employed by TVR and have been laid off temporarily. So I am still employed by the company so unable to claim benefit and look for another job."

Ian Law, TVR spokesman, said: "The lay-offs are a temporary move to tide the company over. "This has been a tough few months for TVR and we are down on orders for some of the cars. This is an unfortunate thing to happen but we hope to take some of the laid-off staff back if orders improve."

This is the second time in the space of 14 months that TVR has axed some of its staff. Ninety workers were laid off in February last year.