Nortel Network Corps., the Canadian telecom equipment maker on Monday axed 228 UK staffs with immediate effect and without redundancy pay out.

“We can confirm 228 posts are going in the UK, but we can'''t break the numbers down any further,” a spokeswoman said.

The lay off follows the series of other job cuts announced by the company earlier in November 2008 and February this year, after the parent company filed for bankruptcy protection.

Nortel Networks UK, which employs 1,200 staff in Maidenhead, does not have to make redundancy payouts as it is in administration but those laid off are entitled to a small statutory redundancy payment from the government.

The spokeswoman added that the administrators for UK unit, Ernst and Young, will be there to assist HR staff with paperwork and to enable former employees receive statutory redundancy pay from the government.

The 1,200 employees were told on Monday that the job cuts were effective immediately.

In a separate incident, another 86 workers in Northern Ireland were also cut, from a site in County Antrim.