AN ENGINEERING firm is set to make 35 workers redundant and outsource their jobs to Slovakia.

The workers have been told they will be made redundant after the Skipton Road branch of Colne's ELE Advanced Technologies closes in September.

But manufacturers' union Amicus said when the closure of that plant was first announced, workers were told their jobs would be moved to the firm's Cotton Tree Lane site.

Instead, the work will now be done by a new firm in Slovakia, and the Colne workers will receive only minimum redundancy packages.

Pendle council leader Alan Davies attacked the move, saying that the firm should give its workers a fair payout.

And Amicus said the decision put the rest of the workers' jobs in jeopardy and added to Britain's skills drain.

North West representative Dave Gorton said: "It's disappointing and it's the reason why we are now suffering from a skills shortage in engineering. The workers feel very betrayed."

Workers were supported by John Getty, chairman of Lancashire's advanced manufacturing group and chief executive of Nelson's PDS Engineering.

He said: "There are a lot of engineering firms in this country who are finding that they can easily compete with Eastern Europe if they streamline their manufacturing and reinvest in more modern equipment.

"On the more complicated work, most firms are more than a match for Eastern Europe, and there should not really be any reason to start laying people off like this."

ELE's financial director Andrew McLoughlen declined to comment.