UP to 70 jobs are at risk after a Darlington engineering firm plunged into administration, it was revealed last night.

The Northern Echo has learned that Malcolm Engineering Company (MEC) called in receivers earlier this month after experiencing financial problems.

The company employs about 70 people, all of whom have been informed of the situation by letter while the site has been on annual shut-down for the past two weeks.

However, the firm is continuing to trade, and last night it was said that hopes are high that a buyer can be found or that MEC could work through its troubles.

Jimmy Skivington, regional organiser for the GMB union, said he was hopeful the situation could be resolved.

"I understand the company has called in the receivers, and they are looking at where things have gone wrong," he said.

"However, nothing has been said about the company definitely making any cuts or redundancies, as it's still at an early stage. Hopefully, that will not be the case.

"The employees have been away for the past two weeks while the site has been on shut- down, so it will be this week when we start to make some progress."

The family-run firm was set up in Banks Road in the town in 1968, and continues to operate from the site.

After being established by J. Vernon Malcolm, it is now run by brothers and joint managing directors Chris and Doug Malcolm, with Debbie Malcolm as commercial director.

Among MEC's biggest customers are Nissan and ThyssenKrupp Automotive (TKA) Tallent Chassis.

An employee at the company, who asked not to be named, said workers remained upbeat that a deal could be agreed.

"I'm still employed here. It's a good family-owned firm that has been through quite a lot of ups and downs over the past 18 months or so, and we are hoping the company can come through this," he said.

"There are some big customers who use Malcolm Engineering and it's got a good reputation. We've heard there is a buyer interested at the minute, but we're not sure if that will go ahead.

"All we are hoping is that something can be resolved - none of us want to be out of work."