North-west jobs blow

About 450 jobs will go when the Michelin plant closes

A total of more than 700 jobs are to go in a round of redundancies announced in the North-west on Tuesday.

More than 450 jobs will be lost when the Michelin factory in Burnley, Lancashire, closes in March.

An aerospace company, Hurel Hispano, also in Burnley, said it was shedding 100 jobs.

And a further 160 redundancies are being made in Bolton where the cotton mill, Shiloh Spinners, is to close.

Burnley hit hard

Michelin blamed the losses on the inability of its small truck tyre-making factory to compete on a global scale.

The site manager, John Lancaster, said the company is looking at ways to help the workforce.

"Between now and March 2002, we will be offering job shops, relocation and training support.

"We shall also be working with local agencies to encourage inward investment into the area to create local jobs."

Michelin's announcement came after aerospace company, Hurel Hispano, also in Burnley, said 100 jobs had to go in the wake of recent events in the United States.

The workers have been through so many redundancies already and they've been in the trade most of their lives

John Lancaster, GMB Union

The North-west's cotton industry has also suffered a blow with news of the closure of the Shiloh Spinners yarn mill in Bolton.

It follows the shutting down of mills at Royton and Chadderton in the nearby Oldham area in the last 18 months.

Shiloh was once one of the biggest employers in the industry, having been established for more than 100 years.

Severe reduction

The spinning division was the result of a management buy-out from Shiloh plc in March 2000.

Chairman Rod Murray said: "Certain areas of the business have suffered from a severe reduction in turnover.

"This was caused mainly by the larger retailers sourcing their products offshore and the continued strength of sterling."

Graham Wells, branch secretary with the GMB union said: "The trade hasn't improved and this was really was expected.

"The workers have been through so many redundancies already and they've been in the trade most of their lives.

"Unfortunately, that's the way the textile industry in this country is going."