MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) – Some workers who lost their jobs when a Bedford company closed abruptly last week are having trouble cashing their paychecks.

At least nine people told state employment officials in Manchester on Friday that their checks from Car Component Technologies have bounced. But company officials said they don’t know why the checks aren’t clearing because the money is there.

“I’m hoping it’s true and this is some kind of banking error,” said Richard Brothers, commissioner of the Department of Employment Security. “It seems odd that this many checks are bouncing.”

More than 500 workers were laid off last week, most of them Latinos from the Nashua and Manchester area. State Rep. Hector Valez was meeting with Mayor Bob Baines and state officials on Saturday to figure out how the community can help.

“We want to know what their short-term needs are, like rental assistance, food for the holidays – so we can help with basic needs,” Valez said. He praised the Manchester employment security office for working quickly to process unemployment claims.

More than 200 applications were processed in two days, he said, and the state is speeding up the issuing of unemployment checks by a week.

The first checks will be ready as soon as Tuesday for workers who apply on Sunday.

Car Component Technologies is a subsidiary of American Remanufactures Inc., a company based in Anaheim, Calif., that filed for bankruptcy Nov. 7. The subsidiary specialized in rebuilt axles for front-wheel drive cars and trucks and had a production plant in Bedford and distribution center in Merrimack.

After hearing about the sudden closure, a company that provides secure armored transport, ATM services and other cash services for banks and businesses said it has jobs available for the laid-off workers.

“We can have you working in a week,” said Kristie Harrington, a human resource manager for Houston-based Loomis, Fargo & Co.

She said the company has more than 100 jobs available in New England, including 20 in Londonderry and three in Lebanon.

“We have never had any layoffs in New England,” she said.

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On the Net: http://www.loomisfargojobs.com

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Information from: New Hampshire Union Leader, http://www.theunionleader.com