Engineering firm Doosan Babcock has remained silent despite claims that up to 350 jobs could be under threat in Scotland.

The GMB union has warned 300 manual and 50 managerial posts are at risk in Grangemouth and Lanark, describing it as a "devastating blow" for workers.

But economy secretary Keith Brown said 300 of the jobs have not been filled and only exist on paper. He claimed they are part of a contract due to start later this year.

Doosan Babcock has not responded to repeated requests for comment and clarification from STV News.

However, it has filed a form with the Insolvency Service warning of up to 350 redundancies between February and May.

Mr Brown said he had spoken to representatives from the company and criticised Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard, who voiced concerns about redundancies on Saturday.

Mr Leonard said: "My fear is that if jobs go we will lose those skills from the Scottish economy and the economy of Scotland will suffer."

The economy secretary questioned the Labour leader's comments, telling STV: "Three hundred of these jobs have not even yet been recruited for - they are for work that Doosan Babcock has won that will happen from April this year.

"So unless Richard Leonard is saying we should not be involved in contract work, if we shouldn't allow the families who rely on that work to go forward for this work unless it's permanent, then we're going to rule out contract work for the whole of Scotland."

The SNP politician initially echoed Mr Leonard's concerns about job losses when the news broke on Friday night, calling it "deeply disappointing".

The positions are understood to be fixed-term contract posts at Grangemouth and a waste management plant in Levenseat.