Ford Dagenham staff will be "unaffected" by plans to cut thousands of jobs across the automotive giant's European sites.

The company announced this week that it intends to axe around 1,300 jobs in the UK as part of a move to increase focus on electric vehicles.

The cuts will see Ford lose around a fifth of its 6,500-strong UK workforce and come amid wider proposals to scrap around 3,800 jobs in the next three years across Europe.

A spokesperson for Ford said the plans do "not affect" its Dagenham site.

According to the company, the bulk of the UK job losses will affect the company’s technical centre in Dunton, Essex, where it has about 3,400 workers.

A smaller operation in Stratford, where about 200 staff work, will also be impacted.

READ MORE: Beam Park: A look back at the Ford factory past

Ford said the majority of the Europe-wide job losses will occur in Germany, where about 2,300 roles are set to go.

The job losses will create a “leaner, more competitive cost structure” for the business and help with the transition towards a smaller, more focused and increasingly electric product portfolio, the company said.

It includes efforts to restructure its engineering arm, which will result in 2,800 fewer jobs across the division by 2025.

Around 1,000 jobs in its administrative, marketing, sales and distribution teams across Europe are set to go.

In the UK, around 1,000 of the job cuts will affect the company’s engineering team and 300 in administrative operations.

Martin Sander, general manager of Ford Model e in Europe, said: “These are difficult decisions, not taken lightly.

“We recognise the uncertainty it creates for our team, and I assure them we will be offering them our full support in the months ahead.

“We will engage in consultations with our social partners so we can move forward together on building a thriving future for our business in Europe.”

Ford stressed that the European car market is highly competitive and there are growing fields of electric car rivals entering the market.

It gave assurances that the plans will “revitalise” the business as it is set to introduce its first European-built electric passenger vehicle in the spring.

Mr Sander said: “We are completely reinventing the Ford brand in Europe – unapologetically American, outstanding design and connected services that will differentiate Ford and delight our customers in Europe.”

Ford said it intends to achieve the job cuts through voluntary separation programmes, which means employees can reach an agreement with the business to leave their role.

Reporting by PA.