ANGRY pensioners who are facing a cut of as much as 50 per cent to their Visteon company pensions after the firm went bust have been mounting protests all week.

The former workers of car plants factories in Wharf Road, Ponders End, Basildon and Belfast lost their company pensions when Visteon UK went into administration in March.

Workers who were made redundant at the same time won the full redundancy pay they had been promised by Visteon and the company which created it, Ford, after occupying and picketing the plants for seven weeks.

But the pay deal did not include pensions which are now being looked after by the Government-run Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

The Visteon fund was around £250 million in deficit when the administrators took over.

A cap is put on how much can be paid out from the PPF, so those who have paid more into their pensions, or who had generous company pension schemes stand to lose more.

Yesterday 29 people picketed Dagenham Motors in Cambridge Road to demand Ford pay the shortfall.

Many of those there had spent all or most of their working life at Ford, which created Visteon in 2000 to shave off parts of its production.

Workers at the time were promised they would keep the same redundancy pay and pensions as under Ford.

Former engineering manager, Trevor Jones, one of those who is coordinating the protests said: “People are gutted, angry and frustrated. They feel cheated, especially the women. It sounds sexist but the ladies are just shocked, they couldn't believe that the company would do that to them.

“Now it's the poor old taxpayer who will foot the bill and we think that's wrong. We've already paid our money to Ford, they should pay us.”

Mr Jones, 58, who lives in Basildon, spent 33 years with Ford and three with Visteon before taking early retirement.

He says he is too frightened to work out how much of the money he paid out he will lose but it is likely to run into tens of thousands of pounds.

The amount he is entitled would be enough to buy him a large family house, even in London.

“I've got a daughter who's 22 and a son who is 19. How can I encourage them to go into a pension because it's the right thing to do? I can't advise them to do that now,” he said.

To make matters worse, none of the former Visteon workers yet know how much they will lose.

The payments will also not be linked to inflation so those who retire in decades' time will get the least in real terms.

Mr Jones added: “We are a big group and we are an organised group and we won't let this rest until we get what we want.

“Ford has a moral, if not legal responsibility towards us.”

A meeting about Visteon pensions will be held next Wednesday at 7.30pm at St Ignatius Rugby Club, Donkey Lane, Enfield.