A NORTH-EAST town was facing a jobs blow last night as a TV cabinet maker told workers its factory was to close with the loss of up to 100 jobs.

Acre Products, a family-owned business based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, told unions on Thursday that the factory, in Darlington, was to close by June. There are believed to be between 80 and 100 people employed at the Faverdale factory.

No one from Acre would comment last night, but Jackie Woodall, of the GMB union, said one of the company managers had contacted her to say the jobs were likely to go.

She has a meeting with the company this morning.

She said: "What they have said is, in the first tranche, there will be 30 jobs lost, and they envisage that the factory will close in the summer.

"Obviously, I will sit down and talk to the company about an alternative to closure.

"The factory has the equipment in place, they have a workforce there. With a bit of imagination, maybe, there is a new market that could provide work within Acre Products.

"If you can make TV cabinets you can make other things there too."

The company made 17 workers redundant last year in an attempt to save money while it looked at other markets.

One worker, who asked not to be named, told The Northern Echo last night: "We have had it confirmed that we are all to lose our jobs.

"We had a meeting on Thursday about it and then they have confirmed it this morning.

"It is definitely closing by the end of June, and they said there would be 30 redundancies next week and the rest will go in the next few weeks after that."

Production is believed to be moving to the company's head office in Keighley.

The main blow for the company came last year when it lost a contract with one of its major customers, Panasonic.

The contract is believed to have gone to Malaysia, where labour is cheaper.