New jobs blow to hit Shropshire

About 210 jobs are being cut at Northern's Palethorpes food factory in Shropshire, it has been announced.

The news comes amid uncertainty over 500 Ministry of Defence posts which may be lost or moved out of Telford.

And up to 500 further jobs are at stake at Telford electronic firm Celestica, which lost a major contract this month.

The closure of Allscott sugar beet plant has resulted in 120 job losses and Muller Dairy at Market Drayton is shedding 64 posts.

The redundancies at Palethorpes in Market Drayton are among more than 1,000 losses at the business.

Its parent company, Northern Foods, is closing the Trafford Park factory in Manchester, where 690 jobs will be lost.

Northern has put Palethorpes on the market as it concentrates on the most profitable parts of its business - producing pizzas, biscuits and ready meals.

Ballot on action

The Ministry of Defence posts which could go are based at the Defence Logistics Organisation at Stafford Park in Telford. Staff there and at five other locations in England are being balloted on industrial action.

Celestica and unions are in negotiation to save both permanent and agency jobs after employees were told earlier this month that its Priorslee site could close by November.

British Sugar will shut its beet factories in Allscott and York in 2007. Shropshire County Council has warned that the knock-on effect of the Allscott closure could cost a further 300 jobs among farms and other contractors.

And yoghurt maker Muller announced last week that it wants to shed posts at its Market Drayton dairy in a drive to cut costs and improve efficiency. Talks are being held in an attempt to stave off compulsory redundancies.