About 250 staff are to lose their jobs at the Stoke-on-Trent pottery company Royal Doulton, in addition to a series of other job losses announced by the company.

The redundancies will be spread throughout the firm, although it is expected the vast majority will be in the city.

The company has also brought forward by six months the planned closure of the Beswick plant in Longton.

It had planned to shut the factory in June next year, but that will now happen in January, with the loss of 200 jobs.

Tearful workers

The mood at the factory is mixed.

Some of the workers have left their shift in tears.

Others say it is a relief that they finally know where they stand.

Restructuring process

Royal Doulton is also closing its nearby Regent site, although staff there will keep their jobs which will transferred to another factory.

The company has been going through a restructuring process in order to balance its books.

Last February the company revealed it was closing its Baddeley Green factory in Stoke-on-Trent, putting 500 people out of work.