LYCRA manufacturer Invista last night announced it is to axe 160 jobs at its two Teesside plants.

The company, which was sold by parent group DuPont to US-based Koch Industries on May 1, blamed the rising cost of raw materials and competition from overseas.

The redundancies are part of a wider plan by Invista, which has two operations at Wilton employing about 500 people, to scale down costs and increase competition with the Far East.

Invista's £290m modernisation programme at Teesside, which is due for completion later this year, will go ahead, and no parts of the plant will be shut down.

A statement said: "This is a challenging time for employees, but we recognise that we must take these difficult steps to ensure success and realise long-term viability of the site."

The redundancies affect 70 staff and 90 contract workers. The restructuring is expected to start immediately.

Joe Keith, of the Transport and General Workers' Union, said: "It has been a complete and utter surprise for the workforce, and it doesn't do morale any good that the new company takes over and makes redundancies straight away."

Invista produces brands such as Lycra and stain-resistant carpet fibre Stainmaster, as well as Thermolite and Coolmax.