Production ended at the site on Wednesday morning

The 870 staff at the factory heard they would be losing their jobs earlier this year, due to a fall in demand for the television and computer screens they make.

A team of 70 people will spend the next two months dismantling the factory, which arrived in south Wales in a blaze of publicity in 1996.

There have already been calls for an inquiry after LG was awarded grants of �220m when it promised to create 6,000 jobs in the region.

The LG plant was billed as one of Europe's biggest inward investments and people living in Newport were promised that it would revive the area.

The closure of the factory is the final chapter in a story which began with the promise to bring thousands of high-tech jobs to a traditional unemployment black spot.

Then-Prime Minister John Major welcomed the investment by LG

One of the workers Peter Radmilovic, who represents trade union Amicus, said he could not believe how the plant had failed.

"I am amazed the planners of LG electronics at the time made plans for this plant, and did not foresee the products we were making were going to be obsolete," he said.

"I can't understand how they have done that.

"The money that has been spent on this plant is huge and it has just gone to waste."

The factory was set up to make screens using cathode ray tube (CRT) technology, but the rising demand for flat-screen technology has led to its closure.

But Phil Styles, general manager of LG Philips, said they had been "a victim" of changes in the market.

"A lot of people have said why didn't you change that technology, but anyone who understands how CRTs are manufactured would know the plant and technology is very specific to that.

"We couldn't just switch it over to something else - it would be impossible."

No decision has been made about the factory's long-term future - LG Philips says it is still investigating all possibilities.

Around 350 people will remain on the site making the more advanced flat screens for computers and televisions at LG Electronics.

When the plant's closure was announced, Welsh Assembly Economic Development Minister Andrew Davies pledged to put a package of measures together to help the workers.