REDUNDANCY terms - "significantly better than the statutory minimum" - have been agreed for more than 300 Terry's workers facing the axe.

Employees' hopes of finding alternative work when the chocolate factory shuts next year have been boosted by news that a company has already approached Terry's in the hope of recruiting staff.

Kraft decided earlier in the summer to press ahead with the closure of the factory in Bishopthorpe Road, despite an Evening Press petition signed by almost 5,000 people. Production of famous brands such as Chocolate Orange and All Gold will transfer to Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.

John Kirk, regional officer with the GMB union, which represents a majority of staff on the site, said many staff would start leaving towards the end of the year or early next year, as production started winding down.

The rest would stay on to see the factory through to its closure in the second half of 2005. He said that under statutory requirements, people facing redundancy were entitled to a week's pay for every year of service under the age of 41, and a week and a half's pay for every year over 41.

"We have negotiated significantly better than that, and staff have ratified the agreement," he said, although he declined to reveal details of the terms.

He said the union was still in discussions with Terry's over workers' pension arrangements, with another meeting with the company set to be held next week.

Asked about the morale of staff, he said it was surprisingly "very good." It was too soon for people to look for alternative work, but a company had already started coming in to help employees start getting ready for their job search, for example by preparing their CVs.

Staff were aware that they would be more likely to find work in the service sector, rather than manufacturing.

He said one company - which he could not identify - had already approached Terry's to say they would be looking to recruit from the workforce as the redundancies began to bite. It was not yet known how many jobs would be available.

John Pollock, Terry's plant director, said today: "We appreciate the support that our employees continue to give to ensuring the smooth transfer of Terry's products to other sites.

"Discussions continue with unions and employee representatives on some points relating to pensions. Our ongoing meetings are the right forum for discussion of the details of these issues. We are pleased to have reached agreement with employees and their representatives on other elements of the severance package."

He added that the company was providing all the support it could to help employees find other opportunities. "Our consultants, DBM, expect to complete the first round of one-to-one meetings with employees this month. Employees have given positive feedback about these interviews."

Updated: 10:56 Wednesday, August 18, 2004