One of Oxford's oldest engineering firms has decided to pull out of its historic site in the city -- and may leave the county altogether.

About 450 workers at the Eagle Works site of W Lucy and Co Ltd face an uncertain future following its decision to leave the canal-side site in Walton Well Road, Jericho, after nearly 200 years.

Managers, who have cut more than 100 jobs at Oxford and Thame in the past six months, said they had not yet decided where they would relocate.

But the company, which moved parts of its business to Dubai two years ago, has not ruled out leaving the county.

The uncertainty is sapping morale among the remaining workforce, according to union leaders, who said they learned of the decision to leave Jericho only minutes before starting their Christmas break.

In an internal memo leaked to the Oxford Mail, Richard Dick, the company's managing director, said a project team had been set up to work out a "coherent programme" for the relocation of its operations, which should be completed by June this year.

He added: "At this early stage, it is anticipated that the first physical moves will take place in 2003 and will be completed in 2006.

"Against this background, no decisions have yet been taken relating to specific suitable factory space within a reasonable distance of Oxford. There is, at present, an adequate supply of this."

In April last year, city planners granted outline planning permission for the redevelopment of the Eagle Works site, subject to completion of legal agreements.

A city council spokesman said an application for 146 flats, 22 homes and office space -- which Lucy's estimated could house 189 people -- had been agreed. Fifty of the accommodation units will have to be designated social housing.

The latest news comes three months after the firm announced up to 20 compulsory redundancies in its electrical division.

Weeks earlier, the company announced the closure of its flagship foundry in Thame, with a loss of 130 jobs.

The Thame division, Lucy Castings, which made cast-iron components for 80 different engineering companies, had been losing more than £1m a year.

Announcing the Oxford job cuts last September, Mr Dick insisted they were unrelated to the closure of the Thame operation, but were the result of a particular contract coming to an end.

Yesterday, he denied there was any secrecy over the firm's future plans. He said: "This has been public knowledge for two or three years now. It is a major, long-term strategic plan which is going to progress over the next five years."

Mr Dick said it had not yet been decided where the company would relocate, and it would depend on this whether it had any effect on the current workforce, most of whom lived in Oxfordshire.

He added: "I've no idea about possible redundancies. I don't wish to make speculative comment -- it would be entirely inappropriate at this stage."

As whether the company would be keen to retain its historical link with Oxfordshire, Mr Dick replied: "We would like to."

Mr Pete Brain, acting convenor for the Transport and General Workers' Union at Lucy's, said managers had been secretive with the workforce over details of its plans.

He said: "Obviously we've been pressing for something concrete ever since it was first mooted. It's very worrying.

"They had already sold off a large part of the site, so we could see which was the wind was blowing. This is a valuable site and obviously has a lot of commercial potential.

"But they cannot, or will not, tell us when we're going to go, or where, or whether jobs will be safe."

Mr Brain added: "It's a worrying time for us as this uncertainty has the effect of lowering morale, which suffers if people are worried about their future."

The engineering firm has been part of Oxford's industrial scene for almost 200 years.

One early catalogue claims the firm was established in 1760, but the first business records put the date at 1812.

A brass and iron foundry set up in Summertown by Oxford ironmonger, William Carter, moved to the present Lucy site in 1825, producing farm machinery, ovens and ornamental ironwork for balconies, verandas and railings.

In 1830 Carter moved to Leamington, leaving the business to his three partners, Grafton, Baker and Briggs, and the factory became the Eagle Ironworks in 1838.

When William Lucy arrived in 1864, the firm became known as Grafton and Lucy, and although the Lucy family connection ended with William's death in 1873, the name lived on and the company became known by its present title in 1897.