UP TO 80 jobs have been axed at a hi-tech Oxfordshire firm, just months after a German company took control.

The redundancies at Oxford Magnet Technology were announced despite bosses claiming there would be no job losses when it was wholly taken over from Oxford Instruments by Siemens in November.

Directors said there had been a slowdown in the market for magnet resonance imaging (MRI) scanners which are used in hospitals around the world. OMT manufactures the magnets which are used in the scanners.

Management claimed redundancies among the 700-strong workforce were needed as part of a "restructuring" to put the loss-making business back in the black. It is believed administrative and support staff are those who have been affected with the company hoping to keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum.

One worker, who declined to be named, said: "When we found out there was a stunned silence among the staff."

Managing director Arthur Kaindl said sales of MRI scanners in its key United States market had dropped by about 10 per cent in the last two months because it had become "overheated" and was now consolidating.

He added: "This means we have to adjust the workforce to the current market situation to enable us to return to profit- ability."

Oxford Magnet Technology was founded in 1982 as a subsidiary of Oxford Instruments and initially operated from a base on the Osney Mead industrial estate, Oxford, until it moved to Eynsham in 1987.

It became a joint venture seven years later when Siemens bought 51 per cent of the business.

It acquired the remaining 49 per cent in November for £9.1m and a 30,000 sq ft expansion of the Eynsham plant has since been carried out, which managers said was to cope with growing demand and to improve workflow.

At the time a Siemens spokesman said no redundancies were expected.

Mr Kaindl added: "We did not anticipate job losses as a result of the hand-over but the financial performance was not favourable and together with the market situation we did not have any other choice than to make up to 80 jobs redundant as a last resort."

But despite the job losses, Mr Kaindl said the company, which also employs about 60 people at Milton Park near Abingdon, where one redundancy is expected, was committed to Oxfordshire.

He said: "These job losses are necessary to sustain a healthy business going forward."