WITH mounting redundancies in manufacturing plants across the region contrasting with regeneration projects such as a major new technology park in Sedgefield, industry insiders appear at odds over what lies ahead.

Many believe that jobs in the North-East's traditional industries are declining to such an extent that thousands of skilled workers are being left jobless and with little hope of future employment.

On Friday clothing company announced another round of job losses with the likely closure of a womenswear factory in Sunderland which employs 400.

A day earlier the end of the line for Newton Aycliffe furniture maker Blenheim Furniture and its 123 employees was revealed.

Last month Weardale cement company Blue Circle announced that it was to close its Eastgate plant with the loss of 147 jobs and staff at major employers such as Black and Decker and Electrolux have both had the black cloud of redundancy hanging over them.

A recent GMB union survey revealed that more than 7,000 manufacturing jobs had been lost in the North-East last year.

Bill Green, regional officer with the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union, fears a bleak future.

"Manufacturing in the region is on the decline. We are continuously being informed of closures, redundancies and unemployment," he said.

"Older workers who have been made redundant are resigning themselves to the fact that they will never work again. Younger workers who have been laid off are finding themselves in longer periods of unemployment, if they get a job it lasts for two or three months.

"There is no job security."

The union believes that the Government should be doing more to encourage companies to invest in the region and that they are being denied research and development opportunities.

Mr Green said: "I think that we still have a very strong skills base in technology industries but in other areas it is greatly reduced."

But development agency One NorthEast's economic blueprint for the next ten years shows the region going from strength to strength. They believe the future will lie with a highly skilled workforce employed in high-technology industries.

Its director of Strategy, Jonathan Blackie, said: "There is a tremendous element of recontruction. Companies such as Caterpillar and Filtronic are doing very well.

"The resilience in the North-East is strong. People are able to get through the ups and down.

"There are closures but there are also jobs being created and the region is going through a major reconstruction phase."

The agency is welcoming the creation of NetPark, a new technology park in Sedgefield that will attract world leaders in its field.

A spokesman for Sedgefield District Council said: "Over the course of the last two years the borough has suffered some significant job blows with the loss of 2,000 jobs in manufacturing.

"Signs of recovery and continuing investment, however, show a more positive picture."