Dairy Crest closure 'to cost £7m'

Production will be shifted to Gloucestershire and east London

Plans to close a Devon milk depot could cost the local economy almost £7m, according to a new report.

Dairy Crest announced last month that it was closing its Totnes plant because it cannot expand or modernise the site.

South Hams Council, which compiled the report, says it is doing all it can to keep Dairy Crest in the town.

If the closure goes ahead 160 jobs will be lost. Production at the plant, which opened in 1934, would be transferred to Gloucestershire and east London.

The plant produces milk for local deliveries as well as the Morrisons and Sainsbury supermarkets.