FACTORY workers were left stunned yesterday when it was announced 76 people were to be made redundant from K Shoes in Kendal, reports Ellis Butcher.

The 266-strong workforce had scented job cuts in the air but few had guessed how sizeable the losses would be.

The official announcement, made to the workforce which had gathered in factory canteens at 2pm, was greeted by tears and gasps.

It has further aggravated fears about the long-term viability of the site and undermined the job security of those who remain.

Parent company Clarks International said 49 blue collars workers were to go from the Springer sandal sites at Gallowbarrow and Millbeck and 27 white-collar staff from Natland Road.

The news sparked a mass exodus as dozens of ashen-faced workers hurried away in cars, by bike and on foot, after being given permission to go home for the weekend.

The latest blow to the South Lakeland economy was criticised by staff and union leaders.

Clarks said other firms around the world could make comparable products cheaper and despite efforts to reduce production costs in Kendal, UK footwear sales were in decline.

Final details of the redundancies and when staff will have to leave are still to be discussed, but volunteers have been set a deadline to come forward by April 17.

Employees made redundant will be given training and assistance to find alternative jobs.

George Wells, Cumbria Branch President of the Knitwear, Footwear and Allied Trades Union, said: "It's the worst thing that could have happened.

We have a lot of people here who have been here since they left school 30-odd years ago and the way the local economy is there are not a lot of jobs knocking about.

"Six months ago 29 jobs went, and they only left in January.

Here we are, three months later, and

there's 76.

Unfortunately people are getting used to it."

Kendal Mayor Dave Birkett said: "It is another sad, sad episode in the life of K Shoes and the slow but sure removal of the workforce."

One worker, who asked not to be named, commented: "It was more than we thought.

There were gasps when it was announced."

"People were in tears," said another man.

"There are people here with mortgages and young families and it is all rather sad."

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Collins said it was a "further devastating blow" to the workforce who had made Kendal "synonymous with the best shoes in the country." He said: "I will be seeking urgent discussions with both management and workforce at K Shoes to see if there are any national or local steps which can be taken to help those who have lost their

jobs and to preserve what remains of K Shoes in the area."

Clarks spokeswoman Julie Townshend said in a statement: "We have been working very hard to retain our share of sandal production, against increasing competition, and remain hopeful that the position will stabilise with our next season's inputs.

"The factory employees have worked hard to reduce costs and to develop new products, but competitive pressures from other sources around the world have proved difficult to resist."

Tony Rothwell, Kendal Branch chairman of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, said: "Shoe production work is being exported abroad at the cost of UK jobs.

If it carries on like this, there will be no manufacturing in the UK at all, and once the skills are lost, they can never be regained."