And a shadow is hanging over jobs at two Plumb Center stores in Ryedale after their parent company announced 2,000 job losses and 200 branch closures across the UK.

Wolseley plc, the world's largest distributor of plumbing products, has already shed more than 5,000 jobs in Europe and North America.

The company has branches on Malton's York Road Industrial Estate and Thornton Road Industrial Estate in Pickering

Meanwhile Wards and Kingspan announced the possibility of 41 redundancies at the company's Sherburn site after a plunge in construction activity.

It is the latest blow to hit the local workforce in recent weeks.

Earlier this month Peugeot franchise Barkers of Malton Ltd ceased trading and made about 20 staff redundant. It was due to go into liquidation yesterday.

Staff at Wards Insulated Panels and Kingspan Structural Products were left fearing for the future when the company proposed a reduction in the Sherburn plant's workforce. The firm has confirmed that 41 jobs had been selected for possible redundancies.

Chris Witte, a site spokesman for Wards and Kingspan, said: "It is with great regret that we can confirm that 41 jobs, subject to consultation, have been identified as potentially redundant. We remain fully committed to our site at Sherburn.

"In the medium term we are confident that our product and service offering will leave us well poised to take advantage of renewed market opportunity once the economy recovers from the downturn."

Mr Witte said the company was looking for voluntary redundancies but the majority of job cuts were likely to be enforced.

Unite will represent the 350-strong workforce through the consultation process.

Wards and Kingspan work together, under the Kingspan Group, to make cladding support systems and floor decking as well as lightweight steel channels and panels. The redundancies came on the same day the group reported an expected 33 per cent drop in profits.

The firm dates back to 1947 when it was founded by Wilf and Frank Ward who established Ward Brothers, Sherburn Ltd. In 1997 the Kingspan Group bought it out.

Kingspan Offsite products have been used across the country including the new Wembley Stadium, Canary Wharf, and numerous residential and commercial properties.