THE battle to save Terry's for York is over.

Parent company Kraft Foods today confirmed it was pressing ahead with the closure of the famous chocolate factory and transfer of production abroad, with the loss of 316 jobs.

The announcement came after the GMB union conceded it had been unable to come up with a viable counter-proposal.

Supported by an Evening Press petition signed by almost 5,000 people, the union had been hoping to persuade the company to move production of Chocolate Orange and associated confectionery to a new purpose-built factory in the York area.

But GMB organiser John Kirk said this had foundered because of the strong seasonality of the work, with the majority of Chocolate Orange produced in the autumn months prior to the Christmas sales peak.

"The majority of production left on the York site would be during a four to five month period, requiring 80 to 90 full-time staff," he said.

"For the remainder of the year, staff would only be required to work one week in every five, and this would not allow sustainable employment.

"In effect, in a working year, staff would only be required to work 20 hours per week on average, with the bulk being in a short space of time."

He said this would have a major impact on earnings and future pensions. "It is for this reason that no viable alternative can be achieved."

Mr Kirk said a lot of time and effort had gone into looking at alternatives and he was "bitterly disappointed" by the outcome. The union would now focus on securing the best possible redundancy and pension terms.

He praised the Evening Press' petition, saying: "It has been a superb campaign, which has highlighted the feelings of the people of York towards the loss of Terry's."

Evening Press editor Kevin Booth said the paper had - reluctantly - to accept that this was probably the end of the road, but the Save Terry's campaign had still been well worth waging. He said it had given people an opportunity to protest at the loss of more than 300 jobs and a long chocolate-making tradition going back more than 200 years.

"It was the right thing to do and, though we knew from the outset that it was a tall order, we have campaigned to the very end for Terry's to retain at least part of its workforce here in York.

"Sadly, the news that the GMB, after scrutinising the financial background to such a move, feels it unlikely to succeed means we have little choice but to accept defeat. It's a sad day, but I would like to thank our readers for their tremendous support."

Terry's plant director John Pollock said the company had recognised it would be difficult to produce an alternative plan for continued manufacture in York that would be "sustainable, manageable or financially acceptable".

Such challenges had been explored in depth during discussions with the unions.

"Our focus is now to move forward with our employees and to offer all the support we can between now and eventual closure in the second half of 2005."

Mr Pollock said the firm would also seek to work with City of York Council and others to establish the most appropriate future for the site, and to "explore ways of preserving the heritage of Terry's".

Updated: 10:36 Tuesday, June 22, 2004