Birds Eye says there has been no progress in talks with unions

Parent company Unilever said it had agreed a deal to sell the Ladysmith Road plant to Alpine Coldstores.

It is understood that Alpine intends to start its own manufacturing operation, a Unilever spokesman said.

Sandra Allen, of the GMB union, said members were pleased that manufacturing would continue at the site.

As a trade union we would look forward to working with Alpine to create the same type of hard work and ethos that we had in partnership with Unilever Sandra Allen, GMB union

In December, Unilever announced the factory would close on 28 February, with the loss of 600 jobs.

Talks with the GMB concluded just before Christmas with the official consultation period ending last week, a spokesman said.

"That consultation process has been conducted in a very satisfactory way but clearly without mutual agreement around all the issues," he added.

However, Alpine had given indications that it was its intention to continue "some manufacturing operations" at the site in due course.

The sale agreement includes all the land and main production assets of the factory but not the Birds Eye brand, Unilever said.

'Good opportunities'

"I am pleased that the site is going to be continuing in manufacturing," GMB spokeswoman Mrs Allen told BBC News.

"It means there has got to be good opportunities for the people who are being made redundant.

"As a trade union we would look forward to working with Alpine to create the same type of hard work and ethos that we had in partnership with Unilever.

"That can only be a benefit for the company and the people who work there."

Alpine already runs one site in Grimsby - a warehouse used to store frozen food products.

None of the management at the company were available for comment on Tuesday.