NORTH-EAST engineering firm Cleveland Bridge last night announced it is laying off its entire workforce of almost 250 at the new Wembley Stadium.

The Darlington-based company told staff they would be out of work by the end of the month after failing to reach an agreement to save the jobs with the stadium's main contractor, Multiplex.

And in a statement last night, it warned that the removal of its workers from the site could delay the Wembley project, due for completion in 2006.

News of the job losses came two days after Cleveland Bridge revealed it was stopping work at the stadium and handing over all on-site steel erection to Dutch company Hollandia.

The statement said: "Cleveland Bridge regrets to announce that it is unable to reach agreement with Multiplex on the transfer of Wembley site staff and workforce to Hollandia.

"Cleveland Bridge therefore has no alternative but to give notice of redundancy to its entire Wembley staff.

"It is anticipated that most employees will leave site by the end of the month. This will affect close to 200 blue-collar employees and nearly 50 staff employees."

The firm said an offer to second its staff to Hollandia had been rejected by Multiplex. Another offer was made to transfer staff to the Dutch company's employment - but the statement said no agreement had been reached.

"We have used our best endeavours to ensure that the Cleveland Bridge employees are retained on the site," the statement added.

"Multiplex has stated on several occasions that the project is on time. The uncertainty surrounding staff and labour may introduce delays to the overall project."

Neither Cleveland Bridge nor Multiplex will reveal why the decision for the North-East company to leave the site was taken - and both said it was amicable.

Cleveland Bridge will continue to work off-site on steel, fabrications and designs for the stadium.

But sources close to the project said the two firms were embroiled in a bitter row.

Cleveland Bridge says union officials were told about the decision to transfer to Hollandia before an agreement was signed. Multiplex denies the allegation.

Last night, it declined to comment on Cleveland Bridge's statement and Hollandia could not be contacted by The Northern Echo.

Gerry Hunter, from engineering union Amicus, said Cleveland Bridge was bound by trade union law to carry out a three-month consultation if it was making more than 100 workers redundant.

"It's quite clear now that there is a degree of animosity between Multiplex and Cleveland Bridge," he said.

"The fact that the contract between the two has broken down does not satisfy the regulations in the 1992 Trade Union Labour Relations Consolidation Act.

"That has to be satisfied, otherwise my union and the GMB will be seeking redress from the situation."

GMB national officer Neil Moore said officials would meet Cleveland Bridge bosses on Monday to discuss the situation. Mr Moore added: "Hopefully we can get some semblance of sense from them.

"The workers are very upset and annoyed about the whole situation."

In March, Cleveland Bridge announced it was cutting 240 jobs at Darlington, a figure reduced to 209 after negotiations with the GMB.