AN ERA draws to a close in North-East manufacturing today - when the final cigarette emerges from the production line of the region's last cigarette factory.

British American Tobacco (BAT), Rothmans' parent company, announced nearly a year ago that its Darlington plant was to close with the loss of almost 500 jobs. Production is transferring to its Southampton plant.

At the firm's height, it had three factories in the region - at Darlington, Spennymoor and Peterlee - providing jobs for more then a thousand people.

The last cigarettes to be produced in Darlington, the Vogue Super Slim brand, are bound for Russia, as most of the company's cigarette production is for export markets.

Only 118 employees remain at the factory, in McMullen Road, 88 of which will leave the business in July and August, with 30 remaining to manage the site run down and final closure at the end of the year.

Darlington MP Alan Milburn said: "It's the end of an era. Rothmans has been part and parcel of the town for years. It's obviously a sad day for the workers and their families, I wish them all well."

Ninety-six of the Darlington Rothmans employees are now working at BAT's Southampton plant.

A further 272 have left the business, 118 of these have found new jobs, 16 are self employed, 47 have retired and nine are retraining.

But BAT's figures show 56 are seeking work and nine others have not registered their intentions.

Negotiations between the firm and Darlington Borough Council and Mr Milburn, have resulted in its decision to give a £1m legacy to the town to help soften the blow of the factory closure.

Mr Milburn said yesterday he hoped the money would proovide for new jobs and opportunities.

Darlington council leader John Williams said: "It is our intention to invest this money wisely and well in the local economy, so we have good value and well paid jobs to replace those that have been lost at Rothmans.

"We also want to see the site used again for manufacturing."

However, Professor John Wilson, director of the Business School at Teesside University feared the closure would still affect the local economy.

"Whenever a large employer in a town decides to close then clearly it has a potentially significant economic consequences.

"It can contribute to a general perception of a town which isn't economically robust and it also means a loss of the purchasing power those employees had, which has a knock on effect on other local businesses," he said.

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