Car workers call for inquiry

250 workers will have lost their jobs when the factory closes

Workers at a doomed car part plant have called for an inquiry into how the factory closed.

The gates of Llanidloes-based KTH will close after the last shift finishes work next Monday, with the last 64 of 250 workers laid off over the weekend.

The call has been backed by politicians who said they believed the workforce had a right to know what went on.

Shop steward Brian Taylor said that when KTH took over the plant it had a £4m turnover.

The workforce have worked to the limit over the last few years to make this company a success Shop steward Brian Taylor

But KTH said the factory had not been running at a profit in recent years.

"The workforce have worked to the limit over the last few years to make this company a success," said Mr Taylor.

Fellow shop steward Bob Goodban criticised efforts by Welsh Secretary Peter Hain, the Welsh Development Agency and a local task force to keep the factory open.

A regeneration scheme is being set up to help Llanidloes

Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik said he would speak to union representatives to see how he could help with an inquiry.

"I think we need to get to the bottom of the company's accounts and find out why a hard working, low industrial action plant could suddenly become non-viable."

Local assembly members Glyn Davies, a Conservative, and Mick Bates, a Lib Dem, also supported an inquiry.

"I would back an inquiry but evidence about what happened at the factory needs to be collected," said Mr Davies

KTH company spokesman David Clarkson said a small number of staff would be kept on to clear the site - now owned by the WDA - by 31 October.

"It has been assumed that the factory was profitable when we took over but the truth is that the plant has not been making a profit for a number of years," said Mr Clarkson.

"The ambitious improvement plans seen at Llanidloes couldn't achieve the prices requested by our customers so we lost a quarter of the order book, which in the end meant that it went under."