AROUND 70 per cent of staff from a North-East snack factory will be looking for work when it closes completely in summer.

KP Snacks is starting the first phase of redundancies at the former Phileas Fogg factory in Consett, County Durham this week.

The company has said around 70 workers are going to be unemployed while around 29 have secured jobs in the firm’s Tanfield Lea and Billingham sites. 

GMB union organiser Suzanne Reid said: “It's an incredibly sad time for our members, their families and the community of Consett.

“Many members have worked at the factory for 20 years plus, they consider their work colleagues to be their friends and family.

“Employees have secured roles in the Tanfield Lea and Billingham sites which is very positive.

“We are very concerned for the staff being made redundant who are going to be looking for employment in the area.”

Phileas Fogg crisps were launched in the 1980s by Roger McKechnie, but the business was sold in 1993 and Phileas Fogg, a brand currently worth £15m a year, later became part of KP Snacks.

North-West Durham MP Pat Glass said: “It is really sad for people in the town. “It is an individual tragedy for the people but it is also sad for the town itself.

“It is symbolic. This was Phileas Fogg the phoenix that rose from the ashes of the Consett steelworks. For that to go now is really demoralising for the whole town.”

Last year when the plan to close the plant was announced the union attacked the process of consultation and is raised its concerns over the impact it would have on the community.

The union said as a key employer in the town should not be allowed to close and described consultation as a ‘sham and meaningless’.

A KP Spokesperson said: “KP announced back in September last year that it was reluctantly closing its factory in Consett.

“KP operates in an increasingly competitive market and has had to focus on its cost base to develop a sustainable business. 

“While this decision has involved 70 redundancies, who are all receiving outplacement support, the business is pleased that 29 of its Consett employees have accepted new positions at its Teesside and Tanfield factories.”