300 jobs lost at chemical plant

Three hundred jobs will be lost at Ciba's Manchester factory

Three hundred people will lose their jobs in the proposed closure of a chemical factory in east Manchester.

Ciba Specialty Chemicals will stop production at its textile dye plant in 2007 and is set to close the entire site the following year.

It said increasing pressure from Asian competitors meant the site was no longer "economically sustainable".

However, the firm will support workers willing to move to other sites where there are suitable vacancies.