UK union fears for jobs at Ford's Welsh engine plant

Britain's biggest trade union fears that more than 1,000 jobs could be lost at Ford's engine plant in Wales despite reassurances from the U.S. carmaker that similar levels of employment will be needed in the coming years.

Ford, Britain's biggest engine builder, said last year it was scaling back investment due to lower than anticipated demand for one of its petrol engines, prompting the Unite union to call on the firm to provide a plan for how it would maintain output.

"It is our belief that... there is no future business plan for the plant, that our concerns are going to be realized, that two thirds of the plant, that's at least 1,160 jobs will be at risk," Andy Richards, Unite's Welsh Secretary told the BBC.

A spokesman at Ford told Reuters that the firm, which made around one third of Britain's total output of 2.4 million engines at Bridgend in 2015, was not planning significant cuts.

"The anticipated production volume of engines from Bridgend remains healthy in the upcoming years, with associated labor requirements expected to be similar to today���s level," he said.

A meeting is due to take place on Wednesday between Ford and the unions, Richards told the BBC.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas in London; additional reporting by Andreas Cremer in Berlin; editing by Keith Weir)