HOPES of a last-ditch reprieve to save 98 jobs at a Radcliffe engineering firm appear to be fading.

The shock announcement that Strebor Diecasting, based in Hutchinson Way, planned to shut down was revealed last week.

The 70-year-old firm, which produces high pressure diecastings in zinc and aluminium alloys, as well as locks for the car industry, has been trading at a loss over the last two-and-a-half-years. Its closure is being blamed on several factors, including: an escalation in operating costs which has undermined its ability to compete with global markets: recent schedules and orders have been at very low levels and major accounts are now looking to source products from the Far East: funding is no longer available for further investment in both human resources and equipment.

Personnel director Maureen Howarth, said: "We are exploring options to keep it open but for that to happen we would need to find £4 million of new work each year."

The company is currently closed for the holidays but when it re-opens on Monday (June 4) further meetings will take place between management, elected workplace representatives and a representative of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union.

The spectre of redundancies at the firm is the latest blow for the town's industries. So far this year the East Lancashire Paper Mill has closed with the loss of 200 jobs, Robert Fletchers, a cigarette paper company based in Stoneclough, has axed 150 jobs and the textiles company, Unified Dyed Yarns, made 90 of its 210-strong workforce redundant.