A QUESTION mark was hanging over the future of more than 400 textile workers in Burnley and Pendle today after their factories were put up for sale.

Textile giant Coats Viyella has put its home furnishings division -- which includes C V Home Furnishings, Burnley, better known locally as Dorma, and Albert Hartley, Barnoldswick -- on the market as part of a massive shake-up of the whole business.

The decision means more than 326 staff at Dorma and around 80 workers at Albert Hartley face an uncertain future until a new owner can be found.

Coats has called in financial experts Deloitte & Touche to handle the sale while also announcing it is to pull out of the contract clothing sector with the loss of 1,900 jobs in the East Midlands.

Regional industrial organiser of the TGWU, which represents most of the workers in Burnley, Peter Reed said: "It is fair to say we are in a state of shock.

"As far as the Burnley factory is concerned it is currently profitable and to the best of our knowledge it is doing well and therefore we hope in due course a buyer will be found.

"All we can do is, if that transpires, watch the situation closely. The whole of the textile industry in Great Britain is in turmoil and therefore for anyone looking to buy into manufacturing it is now a healthy field despite the fact the Burnley factory is doing well. "If I had money to invest I would be looking very carefully where I invested it and whether I could afford to be investing in textiles."

Sheila McKane, branch secretary of the GMB union which represents the majority of staff at Barnoldswick, said: "The factory stops for a week's holiday tomorrow and people's mood is, 'Will we still have a job when we come back?'

"It's another devastating blow to the area. It happens so regularly it's difficult to find something new to say.

"The manager told me that if they (Coats) can't sell the division as a whole business they will sell it off in units. If units can't be sold they will close. We're hoping someone will come along and buy it (Albert Hartley) as a going concern.

"There have been so many redundancies there that the people who are left are highly skilled."

One worker at the Burnley mill on Casterton Avenue, who didn't want to be named, said she was confident the company would be sold.

The 32-year-old from Burnley has worked for the company for four years said: "We have been told our jobs are safe.

"We were called into a briefing yesterday at 3.15pm to be told what was going on with the rest of the company and about the redundancies in other areas. We were told we are being sold but the company was still waiting for a buyer.

"We don't just manufacture for Marks and Spencer we have our own brand name of Dorma and we are very busy.

"We even have the Queen's seal of approval. I am confident that the company will be sold and as far as the staff are concerned we are confident our jobs are safe." But the perilous state of Britain's textiles industry throws a pessimistic light over hopes that a "white knight" will ride to the rescue.

Albert Hartley, which operates from Crowsnest Mill, Skipton Road, has seen its workforce slashed from 500 to less than 100 in just five years. The firm cut 60 staff in February 1998 and two years before that it lost 144 workers and there have been smaller cuts in the last two years. The job losses were blamed on cheap imports and a lull in the market.

The announcement is the third jobs loss in Pendle in the last fortnight. Nelson-based engineers Fort Vale is cutting 30 staff whilst underwear manufacturer Nelson IA said it is closing its Barnoldswick site with the loss of 45 workers

Dorma came to Burnley in 1975 occupying the former Ready Made factory at Brennand Mill off Briercliffe Road where it produced just one small line of pillow cases.

In 1993 Wigan-based Trinity Investments won planning approval on appeal to develop the former mill site into what is now Briercliffe Shopping Centre.

The company's present base at Oak Bank Mill, has a long textile history being the former centre of another Coats Viyella business Diana Cowpe Limited which started in Burnley in the 1949 making candlewick bedspreads.

The company was founded by Eric Cowpe who named his business after his daughter Diana. At its peak it turned out 18,000 bedspreads each week and exported more than half of its total production to nearly 40 countries.

The factory shop at Oak Bank Mill sells a range of soft furnishings including duvet covers, pillow cases, curtains and matching lamp shades.