It is the biggest single loss of jobs in the West so far due to the downturn in the housing market.

But the workers facing the axe last night were not from a housing developer or mortgage lender.

They were from the region's only cement works in the Wiltshire town of Westbury where half of the 130-strong workforce was told late on Thursday night that 65 jobs were being axed.

But the gloom among them was mixed with a touch of relief, for it could have been much worse.

The giant Lafarge site makes wet mix cement for the construction industry from Devon to Gloucestershire, with everyone from self-employed builders to large-scale housing developers, office block construction sites and even motorway bridges using its products.

But with the almost complete stop on new house building in the region in the past year, Lafarge has seen sales plummet while costs have soared.

The firm said it was mothballing half its operations – one of two kilns and two of four cement mills – for the foreseeable future. That means 65 of its 130 staff will be made redundant.

One worker, who did not want to be named, said: "It's not a surprise really, when you see how few houses are being built. Everyone has just stopped building new houses.

"To be honest, there's a bit of relief because many of us feared the whole place could be shut down for good. They are mothballing one of the kilns and that leaves the possibility that when things pick up again, it could be fired up again."

Lafarge Cement's managing director Erdogan Pekenc said the wet process at Westbury was more energy intensive and, therefore, more expensive with fuel bills soaring.

He said: "It is with regret that, despite all the actions we have been implementing in the past months to mitigate the impact, these cost increases, combined with the unprecedented downturn in the construction sector, has resulted in this decision to downsize operations at Westbury.

"At a time like this, our main focus is on our people affected by this announcement. As always, we will be consulting closely with our team on these changes. Any staff affected by this announcement will receive our well-established, comprehensive range of support over the coming months."

The GMB union said it was hopeful no one at the plant would be forcibly made redundant. GMB representative

Andy Prendergast said: "In the current economic climate it appears the company has no choice. We have a very good working relationship with Lafarge and we have procedures in place to deal with this. Hopefully we will be able to work together to achieve the aim of all of the redundancies being voluntary, with no forced job cuts.

"The problem is that these jobs are often very specific and highly skilled, and what Lafarge could find, if they one day reopen this half of their operation at Westbury, is that those skills aren't there in the community anymore."

Earlier last week, the Western Daily Press revealed how other firms associated with the Lafarge plant had also been hit by the housing market crisis. H&H Celcon, which supplies concrete blocks to the housing industry from its factory in Westbury, announced 40 jobs would go when the plant closes at the end of the month. Just days ago, Westbury's MP Andrew Murrison predicted the Celcon jobs "would not be the last" and his worst fears were realised on Thursday night at Lafarge.