Peter Hain

It has been confirmed that 550 jobs are to go at the Defence Aviation Repair Agency facility in the Vale of Glamorgan.

But in a parliamentary written answer to local Labour MP John Smith, Welsh secretary Peter Hain insisted that the centre still had a secure future, while Project Red Dragon - a £77 million "super hanger" - would still go ahead.

"I do want to assure him Dara has a strong future and the Red Dragon project still holds great promise," he said.

However, Smith described the move as a blow to the local economy.

"It's vital to the economic future of south Wales that the hanger is going to go ahead," he said.

"Ministers have been under pressure on this [but] they gave a commitment a couple of months ago that the Red Dragon project is going ahead.

"This decision is split into two - half the jobs is a management decision by Dara. It's about efficiency savings. The other half is giving work back to the RAF and quite frankly it makes no sense at all because it goes against government policy.

"This is a battle between ministers and civil servants and the RAF. The RAF wants work back that they lost over the last five years with the creation of Dara. The RAF can do it [the repair work] but it will cost the taxpayer a fortune. It is best carried out by civilians on a commercial basis.

"This will be a major body blow if they announce redundancies of high-skill jobs that they can't get back."

'Devastating blow'

The move was also opposed by Welsh Conservatives.

"It's difficult to overstate the significance of the announcement for Dara," said economic spokesman Alun Cairns.

"Today's announcement will be a devastating blow for the workers there. It seems that in the longer term, many more jobs are likely to go.

"The Welsh assembly can certainly put pressure on the MoD. What angers me more than anything is the government decision to pull 500 jobs out of the Vale of Glamorgan at a time when the Welsh economy needs high-paid, high-skill jobs."

Elfyn Llwyd, Plaid Cymru leader in the Westminster Parliament, also described the move as a "severe blow", calling on the Welsh Development Agency to act.

"This is a very unfortunate announcement at a time when we in Wales are meant to believe the economy is booming," he said.

"I realise this is a severe blow for this part of Wales and I do hope that other well-paid employment can be drawn in to make up for this devastating blow.

"I would hope that the Welsh assembly government and the WDA bring pressure to bear on Dara to see if these job losses can be minimised and whether alternative employment can be created on the site."