BUSINESSES and jobs were lost due to government delays in signing a contract at Britain’s largest train factory, Unite has said.

The £37 million contract to build 10 trains for London’s Elizabeth Line was announced at the weekend, but Alstom had already started a redundancy consultation following a gap in orders at its Derby factory. 

In November, the French-owned firm warned more than 1,300 jobs were at risk, along with many more in the supply chain due to a shortage of work.