SEVENTY permanent jobs are to go at a milk processing plant in Banbridge.
Staff at the Armaghdown Creameries site in the town were told on Tuesday evening the facility would be switching to operating on a seasonal basis.
It means the Rathfriland Road factory will likely shut next month, before reopening in March.
Lakeland Diaries - which bought the plant from Fane Valley in May - said the move would bring the creamery in line with other similar operations.
A spokesman for the co-operative said it would be too costly to bring the creamery up to a standard in which it could continue to operate on a year-round basis.
"Lakeland Dairies processes over 1 billion litres of milk annually and it needs to allocate this milk as flexibly and profitably as possible to different sites and into different product areas which are in the highest market demand, to yield the highest milk price at different times throughout the year," he said.
"Lakeland Dairies purchased the Banbridge dairy plant in May earlier this year. In recent years, the Banbridge site had minimum investment made in the processing capability of the plant, and consequently it is currently only capable of making products for which there is limited market demand at certain times of the year.
"A significant investment would be required to upgrade technology and processing capability to enable products with the specification and quality required by dairy markets across the world, but this is not feasible. As a result the move to seasonal processing is appropriate at this time.
"It is very regrettable that this necessary development will affect staff at Banbridge. The co-operative will seek to implement the proposed temporary lay-offs and any potential redundancies on a voluntary basis and will also explore redeployment wherever possible.
Ulster Unionist MLA Jo-Anne Dobson said the news had been "heart breaking" for affected staff.
"This announcement from management has come as a body blow to staff who are going through a difficult and uncertain time," she said.
"Just three months ago the staff at the creamery had been told that their jobs were secure when Lakeland purchased the facility from Fane Valley – Tuesday evening's announcement has pulled the rug out from underneath them.
Meanwhile the SIPTU union condemned the decision which they said had come as a shock to staff.
SIPTU sector organiser Martin O’Rourke said: "Our members were aware that there would be changes, some of which would be difficult.
"However, we were shocked to be informed on Tuesday that the company intended to move towards seasonal operation of the plant. This will result in a large number of redundancies and only six months work a year for the vast majority of the remaining staff."
