Hoover pensioner in Merthyr waiting for news

Up to 4,000 people in Wales could be affected if the Hoover pension scheme goes into the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), BBC Wales understands.

The company has been negotiating with the pension regulator and the PPF in a bid to offload its pension liabilities and a decision is expected soon.

Most, if not all, members of the scheme would see a reduction in benefits and those under retirement age would receive an immediate 10% cut in their pension pot.

Byron Griffiths, 66, from Abercanaid, has just retired.

He had two stints working at Hoover, totalling more than 30 years, the final one which lasted 12 years until production stopped in Merthyr Tydfil in 2009.

Mr Griffiths had transferred to a private pension after his first period with the company in the 1970s and 1980s, before joining the Hoover scheme in 1997. He gets £190 per month.

He told BBC Wales business correspondent Brian Meechan the pensions issue was a "big thing" in the area.