Mitsubishi closure costs 240 jobs

THE JAPANESE electronics giant Mitsubishi dealt a fresh blow to Scotland yesterday by announcing the closure of its video recorder manufacturing plant in Livingston with the loss of 240 jobs.

Mitsubishi blamed the shutdown on severe overcapacity in the European video market. The closure is part of a world-wide rationalisation programme involving 14,500 job cuts, and follows Mitsubishi's decision earlier this year to shut its Apricot computer plant in Glenrothes with the loss of 200 jobs.