FORTY-SIX jobs at a tea factory will be lost following the installation of new machinery.

Tetley, which is owned by Indian company Tatu, has installed £2m-worth of machinery that will do the work of some shift operators at the Teesside factory.

Last night the company hailed the move as a commitment to the long-term future of the plant, in Durham Lane industrial estate, Eaglescliffe.

The workforce at the factory has grown from 300 to 600 during the past six years following Tetley's decision to move production from its plant in Greenford, Middlesex.

All production now takes place at Eaglescliffe, where the factory has been expanded in recent years to accommodate the extra workers.

Last night, a Tetley spokeswoman said that while there would be 46 fewer jobs at the factory by the end of the year, managers were hoping to retrain and redeploy staff rather than making them redundant.

She said: "We have let them know the changes well in advance, so we are hoping to minimise job losses. Instead, we are hoping there will be natural wastage, and retraining those workers that have the necessary skills to work in a different area.

"Basically, this is the last stage in carrying out our long-term plans for the site, and reinforces our commitment to staying in Eaglescliffe."

Jackie Woodall, senior organiser at the GMB trade union, said: "Management are consulting us about their plans and we will be meeting them this week.

"We are hoping to reduce the numbers of any compulsory redundancies right down, but we will not know any more until we have met with management.

"The good thing is, Tetley has given us plenty of notice so we can consult with them."

The machinery will load packed tea bags on to pallets, work that was previously done by hand.

Tetley's Eaglescliffe factory produces more than 250 million tea bags and other tea products for more than 60 countries around the world