MORE than 450 jobs were in the balance today as Pendle furniture maker Buoyant called in the receivers.

Worried workers were given the news in a special announcement at the giant Nelson factory at 10am.

Leading national chartered accountants Arthur Anderson were brought in yesterday by Buoyant's parent group Moorfield Holdings, which has also gone into administrative receivership.

A spokesman for Anderson's said receivers had been appointed by the company because of "severe cash flow difficulties" resulting from a steep decline in demand for its products.

He said everything would be done to sell Buoyant as a going concern and there would be no job losses at this stage.

But the spokesman said all 450 full and part time jobs at the three-piece-suite manufacturing plant, which has a £20million-a-year turnover, were potentially at risk.

Buoyant employees have seen the local workforce slashed by around 200 over the past 18 months as the company struggled in an increasingly difficult and competitive economic climate.

Another Moorfield subsidiary, Oakland Fairfax Furniture, of Derbyshire, which employs 100 has also been placed in receivership.

The group's third trading company, Cintique Ltd, with 160 staff in London, is not in any form of insolvency, say Anderson.

Buoyant was part of the giant Silentnight Beds group of Barnoldswick, before being taken over in a £9million management buy-out in 1990. Today's announcement is another major jobs bodyblow for Pendle, already reeling from the recent announcement that Lear Corporation of Colne - formerly John Cotton - was to close with the loss of 350 jobs.

At the Buoyant factory today a supervisor with 18 years servicey said that at 4pm yesterday staff had been told the money had simply run out. He said: "They said they were going to try and find a buyer for the firm and we were all to come in today for a further announcement. We expected it to be the announcement of a phased closure. I don't know my fate at all."

Another worker said: "We have been told they will keep on a skeleton staff to work for about three weeks to get rid of the orders and the rest of us will be fired off.

"We were told the company went to the bank and asked for £1.5 million but the bank would not support them and the receivers have been called in.

"We are all just waiting for some news to see what is happening."

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