Milk factory closes down

More than 100 people worked at the Nestlé factory

A major employer in the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire has closed after almost a century of production.

The Nestlé site employed 150 people, but only nine will remain to wind up the business.

The factory, which opened in 1912, employed hundreds of people at its peak and produced evaporated milk and rice puddings.

The factory was built by the Swiss food giant Nestlé just before World War I.

West Derbyshire MP Patrick McLoughlin said he hopes the site can be maintained and used by another employer.

Nestlé says the closure was prompted by a downturn in demand for traditional products like evaporated milk.

Production at the plant on Clifton Road ended last week.

Nestlé is shifting production to a factory in the Netherlands.