MORE than 200 people made unemployed when a factory went into administration stand to gain hundreds of pounds after winning a tribunal for compensation, it was revealed last night.

Frozen dessert maker Bonne Bouche, in Hartlepool, closed in March after falling into administration twice before. All 242 workers at the plant lost their jobs.

The closure was condemned as a "bolt from the blue," and unions criticised Bonne Bouche for the lack of 90-day consultation, which is required by law, before employees were made redundant.

The company was taken to a tribunal, led by the Bakers Food and Allied Workers' Union.

Yesterday, the tribunal ruled in favour of the workers. Each of the site's former employees will be given about 56 days' wages - thought to equate to hundreds of pounds - in compensation.

Alan Milne, from the union, said it was a pleasing outcome for everyone involved.

He said: "Legally, we are entitled to 90 days of consultation, and so we fought for the money that these people were entitled to for time they should have still been employed."

Bonne Bouche's plight marked the third time in three years that workers at the plant had been thrown into turmoil, after the site - then owned by Hibernia Foods - collapsed in December 2003 with debts of £17.5m.

The factory was bought by Freshbake Foods, but months later the new owners also hit financial trouble.

As part of a management buyout in July 2004, Bonne Bouche Limited was formed to be the new owner of the business.

The site is now vacant and the machinery was sold in April.