THE closure of the Philips TV glass factory at Simonstone starts today, bringing to an end 44 years of glass production at the site.

Phase one in the closure of the LG Philips Displays plant will be the shutdown of the furnace, which will take two days.

The factory is expected to closed completely by September, resulting in the loss of more than 400 jobs.

Bosses at the firm made the announcement that the plant was to close last December ,to the shock and dismay of workers.

Union leaders tried to overturn the decision but their bids proved unsuccessful.

The Simonstone Lane factory has produced 1.5million TV screens every year and employs a total of 400 staff, 265 full-time and 135 temporary.

A third of the workforce have more than 30 years of service and almost half are over the age of 50.

The decision was taken after it was discovered that the factory's biggest customer, a Philips-owned cathode ray tube plant in Aachen, Germany, was also being closed.

The German plant accounts for 80 per cent of the Simonstone factory's business.

LG Philips - still known locally as Mullards - was also hit by a massive over-capacity of glass for cathode ray tubes used in the manufacture of televisions and computers in the last year.

At the time the closure was announced, plant director Steve Dodd paid tribute to the workforce.

He said: "The factory would not have survived for more than 40 years if the people were not committed to this place. Our closure is in no way a reflection on them."

Later today Mr Dodd was due to reveal further details about the closure process and human resources manager, Fiona Eason, was to outline what has been done to support those of the 265 full time staff seeking alternative work.