Staff at Earlsheaton's Dyson Precision Ceramics, which makes parts for use mainly in the car industry, were given the news on Wednesday.

The business is one of four which owners Dyson Group want to close or sell off, meaning up to 50 employees could lose their jobs.

Dyson Group spokeswoman Catherine Breen said: "This is just a proposal at this stage. Closing is not the option that Dyson would like to go for because it's not the best outcome at all.

"Dyson Group has a number of different subsidiary businesses, all of which are involved in various manufacturing and development of high performance materials.

"They are normally used in the automotive market, chiefly in the USA, which has gone through the floor, so demand has decreased."

Ms Breen said the Low Road site had already slowed down production and staff there were already minimal.

A consultation period of four weeks for redundancies had started.

She added: "It is regrettable that the management has had to take this decision."