MORE than 300 employees at a Darwen textile mill are quids as they will share part of a £57.3million profit windfall.

Herbert Parkinson Weaving Mill, in Westwell Street, has has bucked the trend after a year in which more than one thousand manufacturing jobs in East Lancashire have been axed. Workers will receive a nine per cent bonus, the equivalent of five weeks' pay.

The mill is part of the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned business, which traditionally shares its profits with its 54,000 workforce. Profit figures were down five per cent to £141 million, but bosses said this was mainly due to a £30 million expansion into e-commerce and the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Manufacturing sales also fell by 29 per cent, but management said it was normal for the textile industry's performance to be cyclical. Therefore, it was decided that the employees' profit share would stay at the same level as last year.

Sir Stuart Hampson, chairman of the Partnership, said: "Manufacturing faced a gruelling year but we have seen substantial growth in the making-up services at Herbert Parkinson which provides a real distinction to our soft furnishing."

John Blackall, general manager of Herbert Parkinson, which was formed in 1935 and taken over by John Lewis in 1953, said: "In a year which has again been tough in the UK textile industry, Herbert Parkinson has continued to make progress. We have invested in new capital equipment to expand our curtain production. This, along with new equipment to fill duvets and pillows, has seen continued expansion of our making-up department.

"For the forthcoming year, we can look forward to further developing these trends which are all aimed at niche markets inside the John Lewis department stores and our important outside wholesale customers."

In the past 12 months there have been many jobs cuts in manufacturing in East Lancashire. The biggest involved the closure of Burnley's Michelin plant and cuts at Barnoldswick's Rolls-Royce factory, which accounted for 700 jobs.

And just last week it was announced Oswaldtwistle-based Stuart's Engineering was to close with the loss of 44 jobs.