GKN, the autoparts and aerospace supplier, will shed more than 550 jobs in the UK as it reacts to the fall in demand for cars.

The restructuring proposals, which come a day after BMW revealed plans to shed 850 jobs at its Mini plant at Cowley, Oxfordshire, will see 323 jobs lost as GKN shuts driveline plants in Walsall and Hamstead in north Birmingham to concentrate production at nearby Erdington.