End is nigh for Terry's of York

About 40 employees involved in the production of Chocolate Orange were understood to be working their final day, leaving a similar number to work on for a few more weeks.

Staff originally expected the factory, in Bishopthorpe Road, to close down today, but the Evening Press revealed last week how this had been delayed - probably for about a month.

Union leaders said the company had asked for volunteers to work on for a little longer until towards the end of September.

The company, owned by the American giant Kraft Foods, said it had never stated when the factory would shut down, other than to say it would be in the second half of 2005.

Chocolate Orange is the last confectionery to be manufactured at the site, but production is transferring to a factory in Poland.

More than 300 people will have lost their jobs when the factory closes this autumn.

The redundancies have come in waves since January, as manufacturing of famous products such as Terry's All Gold was switched abroad.

The future use of the Terry's site is still not known, but City of York Council is set to publish a draft development brief this autumn which will state what can and cannot be built.

The authority has repeatedly stressed that it wanted the redevelopment to involve the creation of jobs.

A security guard leaving the site at about 6.45pm yesterday said his own job was still viable - but he and six other security staff would be left patrolling an empty factory in the months to come.

"Everybody is sad about it. I've been here for ten years," said the guard, who preferred to remain anonymous.

"It's a horrible feeling, from working here in the factory's heyday to looking after an empty building. It's sad, it really is.

"But life goes on."

Union official John Kirk, of the GMB, who backed the Evening Press Save Terry's campaign, said: "It's a very sad day, not only for people at Terry's, but also for York."

Updated: 10:37 Friday, August 26, 2005