SEETHING former employees of a car parts factory staged a second day of heated protests yesterday.

Dozens of staff made redundant through the closure of Visteon UK in Christopher Martin Road, Basildon, moved their protest to outside the Visteon Engineering Services HQ in Endeavour Drive, Basildon.

They chanted “out, out, show some support”, “Stop hiding behind your desks” and “It’ll happen to you next” to staff in the huge office block.

Around 170 workers were laid off when Visteon UK went into administration on Monday.

One of the protesters, Chris Brown, 30, from the Point area of Canvey, who worked there for eight years, said: “We are hoping someone will come out of the offices and talk to us.

“It seems like what they’ve done is cover every legal loophole, so they could lay us off without having to pay us proper redundancy.”

Another former employee Tony Middleditch, 50, of Boars Tye, Silver End, who worked there for 25 years, said: “They still have the old Visteon flag flying outside this office, with the logo ‘see the possibilities’ – well we’ve seen the possibilities all right.

“What they’ve done probably isn’t illegal, but it isn’t ethical or moral.”

Richard Carey, 49, of Popes Crescent, Pitsea, who worked at the plant for 31 years, said: “The way we’ve been treated is wrong and we won’t accept it.”

Visteon was established in 1997 as a subsidiary of Ford.

The firm separated from Ford in 2000, taking on the Christopher Martin Road plant and all its employees.

Visteon split into two branches last year – Visteon UK, which owned the Basildon plant, and Visteon Engineering Services.

Visteon Engineering Services is still trading, and employs 400 people at its offices in Endeavour Drive.

Jonna Christensen, spokeswoman for Visteon Engineering Services, denied her branch of the Visteon family is responsible for redundancy payments to former Visteon UK employees.

She said: "Visteon UK entered into administration on Tuesday, March 31.

“The appointed administrator, KPMG, is now responsible for communicating with the employees at the plant regarding compensation matters.”