A 65-YEAR-OLD printing firm is to close with the loss of 160 jobs -- and company bosses today blamed the strength of the pound.

Plans to close Walsden Printing, Todmorden, the victim of a £5.75m fraud by one of its then directors three years ago, has been announced by parent company Leeds Group Plc, subject to consultation.

Labour's prospective parliamentary candidate, Chris McCafferty, is seeking an urgent meeting with the Todmorden company to try to reverse or lessen the impact of any proposed closure.

In August 1998 a finance director at the firm, David Edgar, bought the town's landmark hotel Scaitcliffe Hall with money he stole from the printing company.

At his court case it came to light he had been stealing money from the firm for ten years.

He pleaded guilty to 20 charges of theft and asked for 278 similar matters to be taken into consideration. He was jailed for six years. But managing director Jim Kidd said Mr Edgar's financial mismanagement had no bearing on the company's decision to close.

He said: "We managed to recoup the majority of the missing money from the sale of his assets.

"The current situation is there has been down to the strength of Sterling. Our export business has been devastated over the last three to four years.

"The increasing penetration of cheap imported curtains and bedding has seriously affected the Walsden business, resulting in the plant operating significantly below capacity." He said four years ago the company was producing between 350,000 to 400,000 metres of printed material a week -- that was now down to 200,000m and production had halved.

Mr Kidd said: "The decision to propose closure has not been an easy one, as this may result in the loss of around 160 jobs.

"The combination of an increasingly difficult market, together with the significant financial losses incurred at the Walsden operation, has left us with no alternative but to consider this course of action."

He said he would not be making any further comment until the consultation process was completed with the work force.

Textile manufacturing has been on site since 1870s and the printing company has been in operation since 1935.

The Leeds Group took over in 1986. End of print firm chapter