Employees at a Honda factory in Swindon have voted to take a pay cut in order to protect jobs.

Most of the 490 employees at the plant will take a 3% pay cut and receive six extra paid holidays per year, while managers will receive a 5% pay cut over the next 10 months. The cuts were recommended by trade union Unite and 89% of Unite members at the plant voted in favour of the idea.

The plant has been shut down for the past five months in order to save costs, and the pay cuts will come into effect on 1 June, when staff return to work.

Jim D'Avila, Unite regional officer, said: "Workers at Honda are standing together during difficult times to protect hundreds of jobs. The ‘yes' vote means managers will share the pain of this downturn, taking a bigger pay cut."