Plea to help stop jobs blackspot

Des Browne said everyone in the town will feel the effect of the closure

A call has been made for urgent help to be given to a town facing the loss of 700 whisky jobs.

Drinks giant Diageo last week confirmed plans to close its Johnnie Walker bottling plant in Kilmarnock, despite a campaign to save it from the axe.

Former Scottish secretary Des Browne, who represents the town at Westminster, said it must prepare for the worst.

He said it will be "devastated" by the closure and moves must be made to stop it becoming a jobs "blackspot".

"Kilmarnock will be devastated if the plant closes," he said. "It will ruin the lives and futures of people in our town.

"But because the Scottish Government plan failed to convince Diageo to do the right thing, we have to prepare for the worst.

"There is not a person in Kilmarnock who isn't connected to Johnnie Walker in some way."

Protest march

The Labour MP added: "Local businesses depend on Diageo workers spending money in the town. The knock-on effects are frightening."

Diageo is also cutting 200 jobs in Glasgow, but will create 400 in Fife.

First Minister Alex Salmond led a high-profile march through Kilmarnock aimed at securing a climbdown from Diageo bosses.

But they announced last Wednesday that the closures would go ahead and rejected an alternative business plan drawn up by a Scottish Government-backed taskforce.

Mr Browne said attention must now switch to creating jobs and called for a Kilmarnock recovery plan to ensure an "unemployment blackspot" does not develop.

He said: "The people of Kilmarnock want to work - they don't want to languish on the dole."