BOSSES at aerospace giant GKN have this week promised plans for a new £125 million manufacturing facility in Easter Compton are still going ahead.

The assurances were given after rumours about pay cuts started to circulate at the company’s existing plant in Filton throwing the future of the new development into question.

Last Tuesday some of the 1,500 staff at GKN’s Filton site were seen gathering for a meeting amid rumours that the company was going to ask employees to take a 10 percent pay cut but at the same time increase their hours.

However, despite declining to comment on the rumours GKN bosses have said the Easter Compton development, which would see 250 new jobs created in the region, has still got the go ahead.

Frank Bamford, senior vice president for Business Development and Strategy for GKN Aerospace, said: "We have no comment around this. It was an action by less than 10 percent of the workforce.

"We communicate on a daily basis with our workforce about a whole range of things and what happened on Tuesday was orchestrated form within the site.

"From our point of view the Easter Compton plans are still going ahead as intended. There are no changes and the plans remain the same as they were last month. We are committed to those plans."

GKN bought the manufacturing side of Airbus for £300 million last year. Under the terms of the deal, it took over responsibility for 1,500 of the 6,500 Airbus staff, as well as the manufacturing of wings, landing gear and fuel systems.

Last month GKN unveiled its plans for the Easter Compton site at a highly publicised ground cutting ceremony, which signalled the start of the site’s development.

GKN bosses said at the time that they hoped to create a global centre of excellence in composite aircraft wing structures in the South Gloucestershire village.

Production is due to start at the new site in January next year.