UP to 3,000 more North-East workers and their families face a Christmas without cheer after another round of potential redundancies struck the region yesterday.

Durham-based garage door company PC Henderson announced 150 possible redundancies, as Woolworths said it was closing all its stores, with between 2,500 and 3,000 likely job losses in the region alone.

Added to that, National Express, which runs the East Coast Main Line franchise, is cutting on-board catering staff, leading to another 50 North-East workers facing the dole.

National unemployment looks certain to top two million in the new year as figures released yesterday showed unemployment increased by 137,000 in the quarter to October to 1.86 million, the highest figure for more than a decade.

The number of jobseeker’s allowance claimants went above a million for the first time in eight years, and there was a big fall in job vacancies.

The overall number of people unemployed in the North- East – including those not eligible for benefits – rose from 90,000 to 104,000 in the same period.

In Yorkshire, the figure rose to 185,000 from 163,000 three months earlier.

A 90-day consultation with unions has started following the announcement at PC Henderson, based in Durham Road, Bowburn.

Managing director Vicky Brockley said: “This news is never good news but it is always worse when it comes at this time of year.

“We just have a special workforce, it really gets to me.

“I am fighting so hard to keep these people in work and I am sorry we have had to announce this just before Christmas.

I hope we have better news for them in the new year.”

Although she was unable to go into detail for business reasons, Mrs Brockley said she was trying to save the garage door side of the 87-year-old company.

She said: “We are looking for a solution. If we can’t find a solution, the garage door side of the business will close on March 15.”

Mrs Brockley said a second side of the business, dealing with sliding and folding door hardware for industrial use and employing a further 40 people, was “very profitable”

and not under threat.

Mrs Brockley said: “The garage door side of the business has been having difficulties for a number of years.

“One reason is the increase in steel prices since 2004, which we have not been able to pass on to our customers.

“Also, the big thing that has contributed is that the Government changed their planning regulations, reducing the amount of land housebuilders could take up per house. That is why we see more apartments and threestorey townhouses, where the first thing that disappears is the garage.”

Nick Halton, the regional industrial organiser for the union Unite, which is representing workers at the plant, said: “It is 150 possible redundancies.

They are looking at proposals to try and keep the business going.

“The company has put a lot of investment into the factory and reduced the cost of the doors. But, at the end of the day, if no one is buying, the cost of the doors does not matter.”

To add to yesterday’s misery, National Express announced it was cutting 750 jobs, with 50 affecting catering staff on the East Coast Main Line service, as it aimed to save £15m a year.

Brian Brock, a regional organiser with the TSSA union, which represents management, clerical and ticket office staff, said that staffing at the franchise had already been cut to the bone.

He said: “In a number of locations, our members are at breaking point.”

Stewart Watkins, the managing director of the County Durham Development Company (CDDC), Durham County Council’s business support division, said: “We are in uncharted waters as we wait to see the full extent of the global slowdown, but the CDDC and partners have mechanisms and processes in place to provide support as soon as we are aware a company is experiencing difficulty. CDDC will be working very closely with any company in the county that asks for support.”

A North-East Chamber of Commerce spokesman said: “The way we are going to move to recovery is by taking definite action, both by the Government in terms of the way it deals with and supports businesses, but ultimately by the business community itself, in how it works with its supply chains.”