NEWS of 200 jobs being axed at the GlaxoSmithKline factory in Worthing is heartbreaking.

Workers must have been horrified to hear they were being made redundant.

It is yet another blow for Worthing, which only just recovered from another 200 redundancies made by Southern Water in June.

As much as there are good stories of small businesses popping up and prospering in Sussex, many larger companies have been making devastating cuts.

Announced store closures by M&S, Boots, and William Hill have all hung over the county in recent months. We can only hope these job losses are avoided.

The truth is we are at a challenging time in the economy.

While creative and digital industries are booming, traditional manufacturing jobs have been in decline. Many companies, knowing machines are quicker and cheaper than humans, have axed jobs on this basis to keep a profit.

As we have said before, it is also a tough time for retail workers. The death of the high street in many towns has led to a lot of job losses as shoppers flock to cheaper alternatives such as Amazon.

Not to mention the uncertainty of Brexit. The possibility of a no deal exit, which is tipped to cause huge economic damage, must terrify firms big and small alike.

The more redundancies and job cuts we face, the more it is on our Government to look after these people and get them back into employment. That puts a bigger financial burden on taxpayers.

It is clear the Government needs to do more to ensure cuts and redundancies do not happen.

Sooner or later these cuts will become too much. Action must be taken.