YORK'S jobs gloom deepened today with claims that another wave of redundancies is looming - this time at a hi-tech science firm.

Workers said the new American owners of Accent Optical Technologies intend moving manufacturing production from York to Asia.

Sources at the business in Haxby Road - formerly Vickers Instruments - said there was also uncertainty over research and development jobs.

"Morale is really, really low. It has come as an absolute bombshell," said one source. The company, believed to employ about 100 people at the York site, was unable to make any comment.

News of the latest blow came as York MP Hugh Bayley, spoke out in the Commons about recent York redundancy announcements by British Sugar, Norwich Union and Nestle Rowntree.

IT started life in York more than three centuries ago, making scientific equipment for no less than Sir Isaac Newton.

Now there are fears that one of the city's most historic firms is set to shed jobs.

Sources said there was also uncertainty over the future of research and development at the York business, situated in Haxby Road - just a short distance from Nestle Rowntree, which announced 645 redundancies only last month.

Accent refused to comment on the claims, despite repeated requests by The Press. A member of staff said that no one would speak to the media, adding later that no one was available.

But one source at the company said: "We have heard there's going to be job losses. Morale is really, really low. It has come as an absolute bombshell."

Another source claimed that the manufacturing side of the business was moving to Asia, and expressed deep unhappiness at the changes. A third source claimed: "The manufacturing side is being out-sourced to Korea - we don't know about the research and development side."

The York business dates back to 1688, when John Worgan opened a shop in York dedicated to the sale of mathematical instruments, and created the first telescopic level for Sir Isaac Newton, the mathematician and physicist who is considered by many to be the father of modern science.

The business carried on the tradition for the next three centuries, making sextants, theodolytes and other mission-critical equipment. It eventually became Vickers Instruments before being bought by Bio-Rad in 1989.

Accent, a massive American high-tech company and leading supplier of systems to the global semiconductor manufacturing industry, bought Bio-Rad's semiconductor and optoelectronics metrology division in a £23 million deal in 2000, inheriting about 90 employees.

Bruce Rhine, President, CEO and Chairman of Accent, said then: "We owe a lot to the local community, as our York office is one of our largest and most instrumental offices in Europe."

Accent was bought earlier this year by Californian-based Nanometrics Incorporated, a leading supplier of advanced equipment to the semiconductor industry.

When the deal was first announced in January, Douglas J. McCutcheon, chief financial officer of Nanometrics, said: "We believe we will be able to capture substantial operating efficiencies that will position the combined company to accelerate earnings growth and enhance its financial performance."

John D. Heaton, president and chief executive of Nanometrics, spoke in the summer of the great potential that could be achieved by combining the two businesses.

Bill Woolley, director of City strategy at City of York Council, said last night: "We would be very concerned about any further job losses in the city, especially on the science side. We are trying to contact the company to find out exactly what is happening, and do everything we can to persuade it not to take jobs out of York."

City's work woes are raised in Commons

YORK'S massive job losses have been raised in the House of Commons.

The city's MP, Hugh Bayley, spoke out about the impending closure of British Sugar and the proposed loss of more than 1,000 jobs at Norwich Union and Nestl Rowntree.

He called for an urgent adjournment so that Parliament could discuss the issue of rising unemploy-ment in York.

He said: "These job losses are a body blow for the workers and their families who will lose their livelihoods.

"And many of them will find it hard to get alternative jobs with similar pay because their industrial skills, which used to be so highly valued, are no longer in demand."

The York MP said unemployment in the area had fallen from 6,500 under the Conservatives to 1,300 in 2004, but was now on the rise - with 1,200 jobs under threat.

He called on the Government to "re-examine its manufacturing and competition policies" and work with City of York Council's employment review to produce more jobs through Science City York, and in the financial and civil sector. He also backed the Bank of England's warning that an "overvalued" pound was putting pressure on manufacturing and service industries, as Norwich Union's decision to transfer jobs to India showed.

Mr Bayley's call for a parliamentary discussion was refused, but now he plans to put pressure on Ministers and also Yorkshire Forward to strengthen the city's economy.

He said afterwards: "We want to attract high paying jobs to York so that the city can be an economic driver for Yorkshire as a whole."