Doug Marshall BBC News Online, Nottingham

Another death knell has sounded for the worn out industry which once clothed the nation.

Leicester's largest clothing factory, Richard Roberts Knitwear, is closing with the loss of 300 jobs.

It is the latest blow to the industry which helped shape the East Midlands and at its height employed 137,000 workers in the 1970s.

Now empty factory windows stare out of the towns and cities of the region and an entire workforce will soon be a piece of history.

The union itself has lost 2,500 members in the last month

Peter Crowe, KFAT

The latest job losses follow similar announcements at Charnos Knitwear in Ilkeston, Derbyshire and Aspira Leg and Bodywear in Hinckley, Leicestershire.

Peter Crowe, union official for KFAT, the Knitwear, Footwear and Textile Union, said: "It is pretty grim to be honest.

"The union itself has lost 2,500 members in the last month - that is how bad it is."

Cheap labour

He said workers being made redundant have little prospect of finding jobs elsewhere in the industry.

"A lot of people don't want to because there is no confidence."

Numbers employed (approx)

1970 137,000 1980 100,000 1993 50,000 2002 30,000

He blamed the situation on manufacturers locating overseas to find cheaper labour in North Africa, the Middle East and Far East.

It is a view echoed by Stanley Chapman, an expert on the industry and editor of the journal Textile History.

He said: "The cost of Labour in the Third World countries, from which we are importing, is very much lower than it is here.

"It is an industry with a history of very low pay."

Buying British

Another reason has been the Marks and Spencer factor.

Many of the most efficient producers were suppliers to M&S - firms like Courtaulds in Nottingham and Charnos, said Mr Chapman.

But M&S changed its buy British policy in the 1990s, which led to widespread redundancies.

Paul Smith is one of the few success stories

In a country with high labour costs like Britain, firms need to move upmarket, said Mr Chapman.

Paul Smith, the Nottingham-based designer, is an example of how one firm has thrived, he said.

"He is a celebrated name in the industry but we don't find many other people with his recognition."

Tight times

This is a lesson which has not been learned in the industry.

"The prospect cannot be good for the industry unless it abandons the culture of low-cost mass production," said Mr Chapman.

It is too late at Aspira, formerly known as Atkin's, which was the world's oldest stocking factory.

The industry dates back 400 years

Now most of the huge factory is empty and the final workers are readying the place for closure.

There is talk that the factory may be turned into luxury apartments.

Across the road is a small wood-beamed cottage - once a home to knitters who worked at the factory, and now a museum.

Piece of history

It is one of many museums about the industry now dotted round the region.

It contains the world's oldest knitting machine and some documents saved from the Hinckley firm.

"It is not going to cost anyone anything to preserve these things in this museum," said Bill Partridge, who worked for Atkins for 49 years and campaigned to save the items.

"Researchers, children, and the general public will be able to come to find out about the history."