The future of a struggling engineering firm, which is surrounded by rumours of job losses, remained in the balance today.

Sloman Engineering, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was forced to lay off 35 of its 126-strong workforce earlier this year.

But the troubled firm, now in the hands of receivers, could be wound down in the near future if a buyer cannot be found.

Administrators KPMG said yesterday that the company, which has been established for 14 years, could fold.

A spokesman said: "At this stage we don't have a purchaser. We are still talking to people and the company is still trading normally at the moment.

"But clearly if we don't find a buyer then the business will need to be wound down.

"It would have been better to find a buyer at an early stage. We have had a few people look round but it's just not been viable."

The company went into receivership on January 9 and administrators admit that it has been a worryingly lengthy wait.

Sloman makes components for the automotive industry and one of its largest customers is the Cummins engine plant, in Darlington.

Engineers' union AEEU/Amicus has been working closely with its members at Sloman, but workers are said to be disappointed at a lack of support from elsewhere.

One worker, who asked not to be named, said there was bad feeling among employees who had stayed to work with administrators in the hope that a solution could be found.

"There are lads at our place who live in Crook and they say that when jobs have gone there, task forces are set up and if they can't save the jobs, they'll get the best deal possible," he said.

"We have worked with the administrators. We were told that if we all pulled together there would be something for us."

If the firm were to fold, it would be the latest in a string of disasters for the North-East economy.

Last week, bosses at Hugh Mackay Carpets, in Durham, told staff that 50 jobs were to be cut from the workforce of 231.