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Manufacturing has stopped at digger-giant JCB as the coronavirus continues to cause an 'unprecedented reduction' in global demand for its machines.

The Staffordshire business today announced that it is halting production at all of its nine º£½ÇÊÓƵ manufacturing plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham, until at least Monday, March 30.

For the rest of this week and the whole of next week, shop floor workers affected by the move will continue to be paid in full, however it is not yet known what will happen after that period.

At the same time, all office staff will continue to work a 39-hour week, with many working from home.

The decision by JCB to halt manufacturing comes after it introduced short-time working for thousands of employees at its º£½ÇÊÓƵ factories for three weeks in February.

JCB CEO Graeme Macdonald said: "These measures are unprecedented in the history of JCB but are absolutely necessary to protect the business.

"As we continue to deal with the health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more challenging to maintain business continuity in this volatile economic climate.

"JCB is a global exporter and worldwide demand for our products has dropped sharply as customers cancel orders and defer deliveries. This is not just a º£½ÇÊÓƵ issue, it is worldwide and with countries like France, Spain and Italy going into lock-down, those key markets for construction equipment disappear overnight.