Fifty job losses were announced today at a Burgess Hill electronics firm.

CAE Electronics said the positions in the firm's military flight development wing will be phased out over the next six months. The news comes just two months after Filofax announced plans to close its manufacturing plants in Burgess Hill and Littlehampton with the loss of around 130 jobs. The plants are expected to close by the end of June.

David Myers, managing director, said: "It is very disappointing to reduce the number of employees at our Burgess Hill facility. They have been responsive to the challenges of significant growth in the last few years and we very much hope alternative positions can be found for some of them within the group."

The job losses at the firm, which has 180 employees, come as part of a restructuring programme and CAE will now focus on land-based systems and simulator support. A Royal Navy flight simulator maintenance contract has boosted the firm. It has drawn support for flight and land simulators under one management team.

CAE installs and maintains both its own simulators and those produced by other companies. Mr Myers said: "The restructuring will enable us to be better focused on long-term opportunities."

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