DARWEN'S manufacturing industry was delivered another blow today when Akzo Nobel Decorative Coatings Limited announced up to 25 job losses.

The company, based in Hollins Road, said it had to undertake a review of its business as a result of the difficult trading conditions in the home decoration marketplace.

A spokesman for the company said: "One of the conclusions is the need to reduce the company's cost base in line with the future shape of the business and this includes the overall number of employees.

"The company is therefore proposing to reduce the numbers employed at its locations in Darwen, Hull and Warrington but hopes to achieve a proportion of this by natural turnover.

"However some redundancies are proposed at the Darwen site which is likely to be in the region of 25."

The company currently employs 1,800 staff across its sites, with 761 employees based at the Darwen site.

Akzo Nobel extended its position as world leader in June last year with a multi-million-pound acquisition.

Its Decorative Coating division took over Plascon UK and Eire, a leading speciality paint business offering high-performance products for a range of decorating needs.

It also made what it called a "significant capital investment" in its emulsion paint plant in 1997 which resulted in the production process becoming more automated.

At the stage the company, which produces Crown paints, employed around 1,000 in the town.