By Mark Donaghy

UNIONS and bosses at a Leigh firm are having face-to-face talks today (Friday) following news that 130 jobs will be lost at one of the town's last major employers.

More than 75 per cent of business at BICC will stop by the end of the year - leaving a workforce of just 40.

The factory was once the town's big employer with more than 3,000 people earning their living at the West Bridgewater Street site.

Cable production will no longer take place at Leigh and the small team left will work on special compounds.

The news was announced by Pirelli, who bought-out BICC General .

In a statement, they said the merged companies would have 10 sites in the UK, which they said would mean a need to implement comprehensive restructuring.

"The Leigh site is one of the oldest in the company with facilities no longer capable of efficient, competitive cable production and after a detailed study the decision was regretfully taken to cease cable production by the end of the year, resulting in the loss of 130 jobs."

Local councillor Brian Jarvis said he was heartbroken to hear the news. His family, like many others in the Leigh, worked at BICC over the years.

He said: "My grandparents came to Leigh from down south before the Second World War to work there and I worked at BICC myself.

"I'm very upset about it. There has been cut back after cut back over the years, but it was still a major employer and I find it hard to believe how it has changed.

"It is devastating for the town. The unemployment rate in Leigh is pretty high anyway and this will add to that."

Leigh was not the only town to be hit, with a total of 900 jobs to be lost up and down the country.

John Tierney, Human Resources Director for Pirelli Cables Ltd, said: "The redundancies are part of a company-wide programme of increasing efficiency and profitability

"We are sorry that the combined business has to lose 900 jobs but that number is over six locations across the company and is out of an employment total of almost 3,500.

"The company will make every effort to assist those employees affected by these actions to secure suitable alternative employment."

Employees and trade union representatives have been informed of the redundancies and discussions are now underway to implement the changes.