WORKERS laid off from the former Crown Wallcoverings factory in Darwen are to get a share of more than £400,000 awarded by a tribunal.

The 177 workers were laid off in July last year after the business was placed into receivership.

Since then representatives at the Graphical Paper and Media Union, along with engineering union Amicus, have been fighting for redundancy pay.

Now a tribunal has awarded the workers, along with 35 from other factories in the North West, 90 days worth of pay, which will be reduced to eight weeks under Government rules.

Tony Burke, deputy general secretary of the GPMU, said: "The decision of the tribunal fully vindicates our decision to taken legal action against the receivers for failing to consult properly with the unions about the closure.

"The decision to award the full amount, which is in excess of £400,000, will help our members who have faced job losses and its clear there is no excuse for a receiver not to consult properly with the unions when we are faced with job losses and closure."The tribunal sat in Manchester, on January 30. In the written decision, sent out to all the parties involved this week, it says: "The unanimous decision of the tribunal is that the 212 employees of the respondent company made redundant on July 1 2003 are entitled to a protective award under Section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidated) Act 1992 and the tribunal awards the maximum of 90 days pay."

The cash will be coming from the Government but under its rules the workers can only receive a maximum eight weeks of the pay.

This means that all the staff will get just under £2,000 each, before tax and national insurance.

Most of the sacked workers were based on the factory's shop floor at Belgrave Mill, Darwen. Before it was placed in receivership Crown merged with an American company, and became Imperial Home Decor Group.

Nigel Jones, 42, of Somerset Avenue in Darwen worked in the mill factory for 10 years. When he was made redundant he was a leading hand in the printing department.

He said: "We were the first ones to get fired. We didn't get any notice really, we just got fired off.

"We are pleased because at the end of the day it's something that we weren't supposed to be getting. It's a good surprise, and it's something for a holiday anyway!"

"There were Chinese whispers of £1,800 each, but we don't know the exact amount we will be getting yet."

And Graham Veeners, 44, of Marsham Grove in Darwen, worked as a printer in the factory. He said: "It's better than nothing, but I worked there for 27 years and I finished up with just short of £6,000. It isn't brilliant if you think of it that way.

"It's good news that we are going to get the money. There are going to be a lot of families who need it."

Now the unions are to use the decision in a national fight against receivers to claim the difference between 90 days and eight weeks pay.

Terry Thompson, branch secretary of the GPMU's north Lancashire branch, said: "We are absolutely delighted with the result."

"We did tell the receivers we were going to take this action. It's an absolutely fantastic result for the people but what we really do need is some changed in legislation."

Mr Burke said: "This will help in GPMU's campaign to make sure that receivers and liquidators are required by law under the forthcoming information and consultation directive that when faced with this situation they have to consult with unions.

"The sting in the tail is that it isn't the receiver who has to pay this money. The ordinary tax payer will pay for this through the redundancy fund. The receiver can walk away having taken their fees without having to pay a penny."

Darwen MP Janet Anderson said: "It's good news but a pretty poor recompense for losing their jobs. Some people had worked at Crown all their lives."

"I will be raising the situation with Gerry Sutcliffe MP, the minister for employment, not only to see if there is anything else we can do to help the workers at Crown, but also to ask the Government if it can look at preventing this kind of thing happening anywhere else in the future."

Nobody from Ernst and Young was available to comment.

Darwen is set to benefit from 80 new jobs in TV licensing at India Mill.

The extra staff will join the 350 staff already working there, and will become customer service advisers.