British Bakeries has announced that it is to close its Mother's Pride plant in Derry with the loss of 84 jobs. The closure of the plant, Derry's last industrial bakery, will take place over the next six weeks.

Mr Alan Stephens, the company's managing director, said the closure was caused by an over-capacity within the bakery industry combined with the limited size of the Northern Ireland market. However, trades union officials accused the company of closing the plant without any discussions with the workforce, claiming they were aware of plans to sells the Glen Road site in Derry for upwards of £4 million sterling.

"Most of the employees have been here since the bakery opened 32 years ago and the way they have been treated is absolutely disgraceful," said Mr Uel Adair, district organiser of the AUE. "There were no negotiations, no discussions - we were just told it's closing." According to Mr Adair, one of the prime reasons for the closure is the £4 million or more the company will make from the sale of the site.

Meanwhile, Mr John Halliday, regional officer of the Bakers' Union, said he was shocked that the company had not entered into discussions with the workforce before yesterday's announcement. "The workers have been treated very, very badly. The company tried to put on an act. There was no prior consultation and the workers are extremely angry. Anything we said in out meeting with the management did not make one iota of a difference and they have failed to tell us how they came to their decision," he said.

However, Mr Stephens, who described his workforce as "incredible" said the bakery industry was going through a very difficult period. "This will leave us with 308 jobs in Northern Ireland," he said. "Although 84 jobs are going here, there will be an additional 50 jobs in our Belfast plant."