UNION bosses at JCB hope a decision to extend a consultation with workers at risk of redundancy will save jobs.

A 90-day review of 150 proposed cuts at Rocester was due to end on February 17, but has now been extended to April 30.

GMB convener Gordon Richardson, pictured, is confident orders will now pick up, reducing the need for compulsory redundancies.

He said: "It's a very good sign. The consultation period has never been extended for as long as this before, and it gives us chance to sort jobs out. I am hoping that the number of compulsory cuts will be nil.

"More orders have come in, from what I gather, from Brazil and China. JCB has factories in these locations, but producing different machines.

"To be honest I couldn't care less where sales come from, as long as they are in the book.

"We should be jumping for joy, but after such a difficult couple of years it is easy to understand why everyone is still treading on eggshells."

Mr Richardson was cautiously optimistic the tide was beginning to turn for JCB, which has made about 1,800 job cuts since mid-2008.

He said: "It seems as if the construction industry is slowly emerging from its low, but the market is still incredibly volatile.

"Workers want to know if this latest round of redundancies will be the end but, unlike a couple of years ago, we don't know what orders we have a few months down the line.

"Economic experts are talking about double-dip recessions, but all I want to hear is whether we will still have jobs."

JCB confirmed the consultation had been extended to "form a better view of the forward order book situation into the summer period".

A spokesman said: "Even though the past 12 months have been tough, we have made significant improvements in our global market share and continued investment in new and innovative products.

"2010 will still be challenging, but we are hopeful of a slight improvement towards the end of the year."

November's announcement saw almost 50 redundancies spread between factories in Cheadle, Rugeley and Wrexham. A further 75 workers were told they were no longer needed in the JCB offices, in January.

A shorter consultation period at Cheadle, which had also been extended, finished earlier this month.

But JCB refused to reveal the final number of redundancies at the site.