MICHELIN has announced the closure of its Burnley factory with the loss of over 400 jobs.

The closure plan foresses production stopping at the end of March 2002 and will see a total of 452 job losses.

Employees will be offered redundancy terms well above the statutory minimum, together with a number of actions designed to enhance re-employment prospects.

Michelin plans to liaise with and provide positive support to the various enterprise and employment agencies in the region.

The Burnley factory is Michelin's's smallest and the company stated that the investment needed to increase capacity would be prohibitive.

And that the site's current production could be accommodated in much larger plants, achieving economies of scale for the long-term.

Burnley MP Peter Pike reacted to the closure of Michelin with sadness but accepted it was inevitable.

He said: "I am obviously very sorry to hear the decision to close the Michelin plant in Burnley and very much regret the sad news of all those workers who have lost their jobs.

"The reality, sadly, is that within global terms the Burnley site is too small. In today's world tyre factories need to be at least three times the size of the Burnley one.

"I have met John Lancaster several times now and have asked questions in the House of Commons, written to a number of ministers and raised the issue with the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Stephen Byers in an attempt to look at a way forward.

"I know that management, unions and the workforce have done all they can over several years to avoid this sad position and we now need to take steps to minimise the effect that this will have, not only on those directly involved, but on the whole local community within Burnley.

"I am trying to apply for an emergency debate in the House of Commons and will do all I can to help. This is very sad news and my thoughts are with the workers and their families at this time."

What impact will this have on Burnley?Email the Telegraph...