More than 200 staff at Group Lotus are to lose their jobs as part of a major restructuring.

The Hethel-based company said last month it was cutting up to 350 jobs after the loss of a major engineering contract and the completion of other work.

After consulting staff, the figure has been reduced to 237 permanent employees for provisional redundancy.

About half have opted for voluntary redundancy, with more than 100 facing compulsory redundancy.

Jobs are being lost in all areas apart from manufacturing, which was protected because sales of the Elise in the United States are exceeding expectations after its launch at the start of the year.

A Group Lotus spokesman says: "Out of the 237 staff selected for provisional redundancy, over 50% have volunteered to leave the business either through voluntary redundancy or early retirement.

"Group Lotus will continue with the consultation period for the remaining two months and is continuing with its restructuring programme to enable it to remain a world leader in automotive engineering and niche vehicle manufacture."