A TRIBUNAL has ordered that workers who lost their jobs should be given an extra 70 days' pay.

The tribunal has ruled that Cranswick Country Foods, which used to be known as Lazenby Foods, failed to consult the Teesside workers' trade union properly.

It was decided the GMB - a recognised union at the factory - had not been informed in time about the business's planned move to Hull.

More than 170 workers lost their jobs at the factory, in Thornaby, near Stockton, when the company decided to move.

At the tribunal, the GMB said that consultations were not meaningful because they had not been told of the decision in time. The GMB estimated the company would have to pay about £500,000 to the more than 70 workers who were members of the union.

Jackie Woodall, of the GMB, said: "It was obvious that the company had scant regard for their employees. Bernard Hogarth, chief executive of the food group, argued that consultation would have been unsettling for employees. The GMB's response is that nothing is more unsettling than to lose a job and the income that goes with it."

Mr Hogarth, who said that "a handful" of workers moved with the company to Hull, said: "All I can tell you is that the we are talking with our lawyers about the possibility of an appeal and that it is likely that we will do so."