HUNDREDS of thousands of pounds of orders could at risk as the banana wars threaten to hit East Lancashire factories.

The boss of one of the area's biggest employers, Farmhouse Biscuits at Nelson, has slammed American moves to slap huge taxes on his exports and put valuable export business at risk

The US and Europe are locked in a bitter trade dispute over bananas produced in the former British and French colonies in Africa and the Caribbean.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook was holding talks today with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in a bid to defuse the worsening trade dispiute.

America claims Europe gives favourable treatment to suppliers, hitting the giant US bananas producers.

Now the US has decided to hit back and slap massive taxes on imports from Europe on a range of products include biscuits, cashmere clothing and bed linen. There are fears that the moves could jeopardise thousands of jobs in Britain which depend on exports to America.

Local firms are trying to assess exactly how the restrictions might affect them.

Hilden Manufacturing of Oswaldtwistle, a major exporter of bed linen, said they were not in a position to comment on the situation yet. But at Farmhouse Biscuits in Nelson, which supplies up to £400,000 of products to the US each year, boss Philip McIvor slammed the US move as "uncivilised".

His firm employs 100 permanent and up to 40 temporary staff manufacturing biscuits sold across the world.

It supplies luxury boxed biscuits to major department stores and other outlets in America, mostly aimed at the Christmas market.

"This is our quiet period so at the moment we're not shipping anything there anyway. By the time we are, in June or July, hopefully this dispute will have been sorted out.

"If not, the firm risks losing valuable business. Obviously if we're sending something over there that usually costs £2 and they are putting 100 per duty on it we aren't going to be able to sell it for £4.

Ribble Valley Tory MP Nigel Evans intervened during a commons statement on the crisis by Trade Secretary Stephen Byers to ask why the Premier was not using his influence with Bill Clinton to bring the conflict to an end.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.