Job losses proposed at pizza firm

Paramount bakes pizza bases at its Salford factory

More than 140 jobs are under threat at a pizza factory in Greater Manchester.

Paramount Foods is planning to cut 144 posts from its workforce of 488 in Salford, where the bases for the pizzas are made.

At Deeside, where the toppings are made, more than half of the 241-strong workforce could go.

The GMB union will begin consultation with employers on Tuesday. It also wants talks with Asda, which has cut its orders with Paramount.

A 90-day consultation period over the proposed job losses will end in September.

The firm's managing director Phil Ryle has said the firm will "do everything in our power" between now and September to minimise the number of job losses.

The union's North-West regional officer Mark Jones said: "The GMB will do everything we can to see what alternatives there are to these redundancies."

He added that he would press GMB general secretary Paul Kenny to raise the redundancies with Asda chief executive Andy Bond.

An Asda spokesman said its decision to move its business was "not taken lightly".