 The factory is due to close in October 2003 |
The workforce at a County Durham clothing factory have just been told that it will close later this year with the loss of 340 jobs. Last-ditch talks between unions and management at Sara Lee Courtaulds, in West Auckland, failed to secure the future of the site.
It has been under threat since Marks and Spencer (M&S) decided to have its exclusive Autograph range made abroad to cut costs.
The management of Sara Lee Courtaulds has issued a statement expressing their disappointment.
An action group was set up in June in an effort to persuade ministers to place government clothing contracts with the factory.
The closure is the latest in a series of blows to manufacturing in the Wear Valley area.
These include the closure of an electrical factory in Bishop Auckland and the former Blue Circle cement works in Weardale.
Over the past 12 months 822 jobs have been lost in Wear Valley - 4% of the jobs in the district.
A jobs summit was held last month which agreed to try to secure government and European funding to help the area.
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