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Japanese car manufacturer Honda is to scale back production at its Swindon plant.

It blamed falling sales in Europe for the decision.

The company said a third of the 3,500 employees at the South Marston site would work a four-day week from September.

A spokesman said staff would not lose out because they were employed on flexible contracts that guaranteed they would be paid for a 37-hour week.

He said that the production of the new CR-V from September, and a new 1.6-litre diesel engine by the end of the year, meant that Honda was still forecasting a production volume in the UK of almost double the 2011 figure.

Jim D'Avila, regional officer for the Unite union, said: "The recession is biting deep and big successful companies like Honda are struggling to maintain a sensible level of production to retain everyone's employment.

"Something governmental has to happen otherwise people's jobs are going to be at risk long-term."