WORKERS at a bed factory in Trowbridge are facing an uncertain future as their working week is scaled back for the second time in a year.

Employees at Airsprung, in Canal Road, will revert to a shorter week from Monday as the firm tries to reduce the amount of unsold stock.

The move means a return to the basic minimum wage of £5.83 for the firm's production workers, many of whom rely on extra bonuses of up to £4 an hour, achieved by meeting production targets.

The firm last switched to short time working in March 2004, when day shift employees had their hours cut by six-and-half a week.

Union representatives from the GMB have been meeting Airsprung management in the last fortnight and blamed slow Christmas sales for the reduced hours.

Andy Prendergast, from the GMB, said: "Effectively the short time working is for the company to get rid of some of the backlog.

"Every worker will be paid the guaranteed minimum wage. They will be given a limited amount of work to do, which when they finish they will go home.

"It is a difficult situation but we have to look at this in the context of the market at the moment.

"Every bit of business news is about the slow Christmas and New Year period. We are hoping the measures are simply to respond to that."

The shorter working hours are expected to last for the next three weeks.

Airsprung's managing director Paul Lamb said he was confident the firm could turn around.

He said: "The bottom line is the sales period for the furniture sector during December and January has been a lot lower than anyone anticipated.

"Because we are under-performing we have to throttle back, which will revert us back to our normal level of sales. We are still as positive as we have ever been. I can understand why some employees are not but I take a much more broader or rounded view."

But Mr Lamb said he was unable to make assurances about the long-term safety of jobs.

"I wish I could make a guarantee as I would feel a lot better, but there are no guarantees in life."