70 jobs to go at textiles firm

Up to 70 jobs are to go at a County Armagh textiles firm, trade union members have said.

Shop stewards at Riverside Textiles in Lurgan have been told that the firm is to go out of business.

The unions said that the Samuel Lamont Group, which owns the factory, is to buy more of its products from China.

Kevin McAdam, regional officer of the Amicus trade union, said: "This is another nail in the coffin of the textile industry."

Mr McAdam said it was another case of job losses in the industry in which the management have highlighted competition from the Far East.

The union said the management advised them during negotiations that other companies in Lamont Holdings had no alternative now but to source their supplies from China.