A BAKER fears his days in business are numbered after the final employees from a once-thriving factory were made redundant.

Keith Brown (pictured) has run his small shop on the corner of Pickup Street and Edleston Street, Accrington, and for the last 20 years has supplied many of the workers at the Leoni factory, which is directly opposite his shop, with their breakfasts and lunches.

Now Keith, who employs three people, has been left fearful of the future after Leoni pulled out of the factory, shedding nearly 500 jobs and putting Keith's livelihood on the line.

He said: "For me, that place has been my lifeline for a lot of the time. If the staff didn't want to get something from the canteen they would come across to me or pop in on the way home to get something.

"I had some 500 possible customers there, and now it is gone."

Leoni, which took over Lucas Wiring in March, has allowed staff to leave over a number of weeks, and, in the process, has gradually reduced Keith's potential trade. The firm had initially planned to pull out of Hyndburn altogether but after intervention by Hyndburn Council, Leoni agreed to open a smaller unit, employing 60 of the people originally earmarked for redundancy, in Altham.

On Friday last week, he served just a fraction of the customers he is used to catering for. They were mainly contractors brought in by Leoni to strip the huge factory which dominates the Spring Hill skyline. Those contractors are due to leave in the next few weeks.

Keith added: "I have already started to feel the effects of people leaving and it is going to be a real struggle for us now and I don't know what the future holds.

"On a Saturday we used to be queuing out of the door and catering for whole floors because their canteen wasn't open.

"Obviously, losing that much business is hitting us and it is a major worry.

"I can't help but thinking that the firm could have done more to make its move out of Accrington less painful for everyone but I don't think they really care as long as their profits look good.

"I just hope now that they pull the building down and put new houses up there, so at least some business might come my way. Leaving it empty it the worst possible prospect for me."

Several prospective buyers have looked at the building, a spokesman for TWR, which owns the building, said last week.