THE last workers to be made redundant at the doomed Leoni factory left yesterday and claimed bosses had disbanded "one of the best workforces ever" and let the staff down.

The majority of the workers at Leoni, based in Pickup Street, Accrington, had left before yesterday's official closing date as part of a staggered redundancy programme.

Of the 490 made redundant by Leoni's decision to take its orderbook from Accrington to Romania and Egypt -- where labour and running costs are much lower -- only 20 had to turn into work on Friday to collect their final cheques.

They were surrounded by contractors who were systematically stripping equipment from the massive workhalls which had provided employment for hundreds of people since 1964.

Malcolm Kenyon, who has worked at the factory since 1966, said: "Over the past few months the atmosphere has gone. It has been lost and I think it is a great shame.

"People aren't crying because they are leaving a building. They are crying because they are no longer part of what was a wonderful atmosphere. That has gone for good."

Leoni dropped its jobs bombshell on June 9 at 2pm when all 500-plus staff were called to a meeting by managers. Sandra Threlfall, who has worked at Leoni for 23 years, said: "There was no discussion about. It had been decided. They were closing us down and moving the work elsewhere.

"We had all heard rumours but it had all been denied by the bosses, who said we were their best workforce. We always had orders out on time so they had no reason to get rid of us other than to save money."

Sandra, whose relative Alison Threlfall has also lost her job, added: "The staff just feel very badly let down."

Some 490 people have been made redundant. An additional 60 were offered jobs at Leoni's new factory in Altham, opened after Hyndburn Council intervened and offered them a reduced rents and rates package if they maintained a presence in the borough.

Jackie Goggins, from Rishton, has spent the past two years at the factory.

She said: "People just couldn't believe it had happened. By the time we had come away from the meeting, letters were on our workstations telling us when we were leaving. It was all cut and dried. Everyone was crying."

Roberta Hayden, of Accrington, added: "The firm have lost something special here, a lot of loyal staff and perhaps they will realise that in the future."

Many members of the management team have relocated to Romania with Leoni. Others have joined staff in retiring early.

Collette Sims, the factory's GMB representative, said after receiving her redundancy cheque: "Leoni is still in Hyndburn and very busy by all accounts. They are working weekends and nights. Hopefully that means they will have to take more staff on and start rebuilding what they have lost."