18 June 2012 Last updated at 17:35 ET

Coryton Oil Refinery: 180 job cuts announced

Workers protested at a roundabout near the oil refinery last week

About 180 jobs are being cut at the Coryton Oil Refinery in Essex, its administrators have announced.

The refinery on the Thames Estuary went into administration in January after its parent company, Swiss-based Petroplus, collapsed.

Administrators PwC, now running Coryton, said the redundancies will happen next week.

Discussions will take place in the coming days with affected individuals, PwC said in a statement.

These are the first significant job losses since the refinery was placed in administration.

The refinery employs around 500 full-time staff and 350 contractors.

At the end of May the administrator announced that despite having contact with 100 possible investors and purchasers it had not been possible to find a solution which sees the refinery continue as a going concern.

'Moving too fast'

The administrator has confirmed that while it continues to work with various parties who have expressed an interest in acquiring the Coryton site, it is highly unlikely that it will be sold as a refinery.

A union disagrees and has attacked moves to start laying off workers.

The Unite union believes it is still possible that a buyer could be found.

National officer Linda McCulloch said: "The administrators are moving far too fast with their redundancy programme, when we understand negotiations with a possible bidder are still taking place.

"There is a very strong case for short-term state aid to be provided by the government until a viable buyer is found.

"Throwing people on to the dole queue before every avenue has been explored is short-sighted and does not make economic sense."

Last week the government ruled out state aid for the plant, saying that "overcapacity in the refining industry and declining demand for petrol mean that it would not be sustainable for government to provide assistance".