A CLOUD of uncertainty was today hanging over the jobs of more than 100 staff at a major York printing business.

Staff at York Direct are "worried and depressed" about their chances of still being in work at the weekend, and union bosses fear that unless a buyer is found by tomorrow, all the staff will lose their jobs.

The Elvington-based firm went into receivership at the end of July and its affairs are being handled by accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers of Leeds.

The receivers are understood to have been approached by a potential buyer for the company, which prints and binds literature for the direct mail market, but staff remain pessimistic.

Forty employees have already been made redundant.

One worker, who spoke to the Evening Press on condition of anonymity, said his colleagues feared that redundancies were imminent.

"The mood is grim - it's like no one cares about our futures," he said.

"It's a worrying and depressing time."

The employee said that many workers, particularly the unskilled and semi-skilled, were not confident of finding work if the firm were to go out of business.

"It will not be easy for many of us to find other jobs, and of course people have mortgages and bills to pay.

"It is unfair for this loyal workforce to be treated like this."

Donald Place, joint branch secretary of the GPMU union, said the union had been in touch with the receivers and he understood that a potential buyer had expressed an interest in taking over the company.

But he warned: "My personal view is that if something is not sorted out by Friday the firm will close.

"The receivers will pull the plug and large numbers of people will be out of work."

A spokeswoman for PriceWaterhouseCoopers said: "We are still trying to sell the company and are in negotiations with one interested party.

"We are still hopeful."

York Direct, which is based at the Elvington Airfield Business Park, was established in the early 1990s with only a handful of workers, but rapidly expanded to employ for than 180 staff.