NINETY-FIVE workers lost their jobs last night when an engineering company closed with debts believed to be more than £2m.

Staff at the plant also revealed that their weekly wage had been paid into the bank, before being immediately recalled by the company, leaving them without money for the festive period.

HQ Engineering, in Hartlepool, has gone into liquidation, and its 95 workers were yesterday given letters telling them their employment had been terminated with immediate effect.

A winding-up order was made for the company at the High Court in London on December 13, and last night the gates to the plant were locked.

Staff at the factory, which has been trading on Teesside since 1965, told of their "total shock" at the closure, and said they were given no warning of their employer's dire financial situation.

Chartered accountancy Tait Walker has been appointed joint liquidator of the company.

Gordon Goldie, from the Newcastle firm, said the size of the debt meant there was no alternative but to make the workers redundant.

He said: "It is still early days, but we are led to believe that there may be liabilities in excess of £2m. Because of that, we had no alternative but to dismiss all of the employees.

"We have been appointed as joint liquidators, and our job now is to safeguard the assets and dispose of them accordingly to start paying off the creditors."

One worker, who did not wish to be named, said: "It just came as a total shock to all of us - nobody had an inkling what was going on.

"The liquidators came in and told us there had been a winding-up order made on the company and we were all being made redundant."

Hartlepool Job Centre said yesterday it was planning to open today to help find the 95 workers new employment.

No one from HQ Engineering was available for comment last night. The company manufactures several types of machinery and was named British Steel Supplier of the Year in 1997.