UP TO 80 engineering employees at Oxford Airport face a bleak Christmas after receiving redundancy notices.

However, their employer, BBA Aviation, says it hopes they will be taken on by the new owner - who has not been named - when the sale of the business goes through in the New Year.

CSE Aviation, which has been at the airport for more than 50 years, is the final business still owned by BBA, which in July sold the airport and the pilot training school.

Private equity company Aldersgate Investments, owned by property millionaire brothers David and Simon Reuben, bought the airport for more than £40m, while the training school went for £32m to GCAT Flight Academy, majority owned by venture capitalists Star Capital Partners.

However, the final sale has been hit by a delay. One CSE Aviation employee said: "BBA is treating its workers with complete contempt.

"No information has been forthcoming from the management and the sale appears to be stalling."

BBA spokesman Mike Harrison, of City of London PR company Brunswick, admitted: "It's taking us a lot longer to finalise the deal than we had hoped.

He said BBA had written to each employee explaining the situation.

"When BBA put the business up for sale, they said it would have to close if it wasn't sold.

"They have got a buyer, but they were required to give the workforce 30 days' notice of redundancy, which expired on Friday21st , in the hope and expectation that they would then be employed by the new owner.

"It's simply that the negotiations are taking a bit longer than expected."

The problem is understood to involve the lease on the premises, which are owned by Aldersgate.

BBA had bought CSE Aviation, the airport and training school in 2000 from City investors Close Brothers for £55m.

BBA plans to reinvest the sale proceeds in Flight Support and Aftermarket Services and Systems.