MORE than 200 jobs at a clothing factory were under threat last night as bosses reported a slump in orders.

Management and the GMB union have started talks about the future of the 200 workers at the Dewhirst factory, at Hendon, in Sunderland. The slump in orders is the latest in a series of blows to the region's textile industry.

The Northern Echo revealed on Tuesday that 50 jobs were to go at Coats, in Peterlee, County Durham.

Only a year ago, 380 staff at Dewhirst's Pennywell site were told they were losing their jobs.

Job losses are being blamed on manufacturers seeking to reduce costs by moving to countries where labour is less expensive.

The situation at Dewhirst in recent weeks has been made worse by a significant reduction in orders from Marks & Spencer for one of its menswear lines.

The number of orders is believed to have fallen by two-thirds.

A spokesman for the company said: "Dewhirst is undertaking a series of meetings with the GMB and no decisions have been made yet.

"At the end of the day, we are being squeezed by continuing consumer pressure on prices.

"Basically, the man in the street is wanting to pay as little as possible for the clothes.

"A lot of production has moved outside the UK because of lower production costs and the Hendon site is not reaching the level of profitability it needs."