THE identities of the temporary workers making up the 135 personnel due to be axed from South Marston Distribution Centre have been confirmed.

A handful of agency staff have already left the business at SDC in Thornhill Road, bringing the final list of names in at a little under 135.

Those confirmed for the exit door will be informed of the decision in briefings at the centre throughout Friday at the end of their respective shifts.

Steve Gopal, director of operations at SDC, said: “We looked at what the shape of the business is going to be in the future, and the associates that are best suited to supporting that shape. We obviously looked at length of service and the skills people have. That’s been ascertained objectively by the criteria our management team have put in place.”

The announcement last month by Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM) to cut 340 permanent and 160 temporary employees from its workforce had a knock-on effect for SDC, which stores and prepares the parts used by its sister company to build Honda cars.

Anne Wilkes, operations director at Pertemps, the agency which employs the temporary staff affected, said: “We will do our utmost to find them alternative employment.”