A Witney electronics factory is closing with the loss of about 150 jobs.

The closure of JDS Uniphase on the Thorney Leys industrial estate follows a big recruitment campaign in February last year when the company announced it was building a new factory at the Oxford Industrial Park at Yarnton, creating 100 new jobs. The American-owned firm, which makes optical chips for fibre-optic cables, has been hit by the slow-down in the computer and mobile phone markets.

It is also closing factories at Bracknell, Berkshire, and Fife, Scotland, with the loss of 515 jobs.