WORKERS at a Hyndburn textile firm are reeling with shock following the decision to axe up to 50 jobs.

Devastated employees at Woodnook Bleaching and Dyeing in Mount Street, Accrington, are facing a bleak summer after the company recorded a decline and low profit margins.

The job cuts will take place by the annual holiday in mid-July, slashing the workforce by half.

In a statement issued to the Observer, Divisional Managing Director Craig Hargreaves said: "Due to the decline and low profit margins of the commission finishing part of the business, a reduction in production capacity will be implemented with restructuring in all departments."

"The workforce will be reduced by approximately 50 per cent by July. Woodnook Bleaching and Dyeing will now concentrate on key group products."

"The decision has been deferred as long as possible but we have no other option to safeguard the remaining employees' positions and to ensure the future cost-effective operation of the company."

The job cuts will take place in all departments, affecting particularly nightshift and weekend work.

Woodnook Bleaching and Dyeing, which employs 97 staff, is a textile finishing operation which prepares and dyes textiles as woven goods for many end-uses including garments, tableware, furnishings and industrial textiles, both in natural and man-made blends.

It is part of the Hilden group, which also runs the giant Oswaldtwistle Mills retail outlet.

Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe expressed sympathy for workers facing the chop.

He said: "It is a devastating blow for them and it is terrible news."

"It is all part of the decline in our manufacturing industry."

"We live in an area very much dependent on the service industries and, in many ways, low-paid jobs."

"It is important that we continue to work to attract people into Hyndburn and one of the things we would like to do is attract high-tech employers which pay high wages. Let us hope this is not the start of a decline in the local economy."