I AM writing as the wife of an ex-Ravenhead employee. I need to ease my anger and frustrations and give the truth to the people of St Helens.

My husband, along with many others, has given 30 years-plus of dedication to Ravenhead. He started work there straight from school as an apprentice and for the last 20 years he has worked on shifts.

I have never heard him complain once about his job, he was totally dedicated and got on with it. When the first redundancies were made at Christmas, he was distraught. He actually said to me that it was the worst day he'd ever put in, watching the men leave. He was disgusted at the way they had been treated.

Then on Friday, March 16, it was his turn, when the factory finally came to a halt. Redundancies happen to many people, I was made redundant last August. You would think though, that after 30 years of service and dedication, these men would at least come out with something to show for it all.

But no! No golden handshakes, no thanks, nothing, except a piece of paper, informing them of a meeting on March 21, where they must make a claim for what is rightfully theirs anyway, i.e. statutory pay and holiday pay. As if losing their jobs wasn't enough.

The sad thing about it all, is the fact that it need not have happened. It was a viable company until the end, they had full order books waiting, and the hard-working dedicated men to carry out these orders.

Ravenhead was owned by the Belgium Company Durobor. It was a more efficient plant than their own company in Belgium and the only glass and tableware manufacturing company in Britain, but the fact remains that it is easier for a foreign company to close down a UK plant than one of their own on the continent.

It is also sad to learn that major brewers in this country were allegedly willing to guarantee orders for the next 5 years, alas to no avail.

It's very sad to see a long-established, 160-year-old company 'gone but not forgotten'. RIP Ravenhead.

MRS J. Bamber, Thorn Road, West Park.