UP to 60 jobs could be axed following the decision to close the J. H. Hurst Shoes factory in Jackson Street, St Helens from September.

The factory has been operating at the site for 28 years, and although talks are being held in a bid to save the jobs of 31 machinists, union representative Michael Murray said the feeling among the workforce was one of "deep depression and resentment."

Mr Murray, an official of the Union of Boot, Shoe and Slipper Operatives, told the Star: "The company has two factories at present - the one in St Helens which employs 60 workers to carry out the preparations and sew the shoes, and the main factory at Waterfoot, Rossendale, which employs 252 workers to do the cutting. Now we have been told that the Jackson Street factory will be closing down completely, while 59 jobs at the Waterfoot operation are also going."

At the time of going to press, Alan Parker, managing director of J. H. Hurst, was unavailable for comment.

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