MP Andy Burnham has highlighted in Parliament the plight of a Leigh firm's 160 employees who were sacked without pay while on holiday.

The Leigh MP raised during the Department of Trade and Industry's Question Time last week the situation facing workers from the Peter Miles Engineering Company -- which went into receivership on May 28.

He urged Nigel Griffiths, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, to help speed up redundancy payments for staff who have not been paid for five weeks by the engineering firm.

And he highlighted the general decline of manufacturing in Leigh -- which has seen more than 1,000 job losses in the town in just two years.

Mr Burnham told Parliament: "Last week, Peter Miles Engineering closed overnight, leaving 160 people out of a job -- without even the courtesy of a text message, which seems to be the trend these days, and owed five weeks wages.

"As well as looking urgently at the need to bring new investment to the Leigh economy, may I urge the Minister to do all that he can to speed up redundancy payments for local families who have been left in such a terrible financial crisis."

Mr Griffiths told Mr Burnham that he had spoken to the Under Secretary of State for Education, the Bury South MP Ivan Lewis, and would liaise with the Leigh MP to ensure redundancy payments were made quickly.