MORE jobs were last night lost at a stricken Darlington engineering company, which has so far cut at least a third of its original workforce.

Eleven workers at Malcolm Engineering Company (MEC) were made redundant without notice yesterday by the receivers now running the company, after manufacturing company Unipress cancelled its order.

The Northern Echo revealed how MEC called in administrators more than two weeks ago after falling into financial difficulties. Since then, at least 18 people from the workforce of about 60 have lost their jobs, after seven were laid off last week without warning.

Unions have criticised the administrators for the lack of consultation over the redundancies, and the GMB union has said it will be seeking an urgent meeting over the latest cuts.

Last night, The Northern Echo learned that of the 13 companies which had expressed an interest in buying MEC, which has traded in Darlington for more than 40 years, one has since emerged as the strong front-runner.

However, Jimmy Skivington, regional organiser for the GMB, warned that if more cuts were made, the company may not be able to trade as a going concern.

"Another 11 people have been made redundant, and we are certainly not happy about the way this has been done," he said.

"There has been no meaningful consultation at all. These people keep saying they want to work with us to get a buyer for the company - we try to work with them, and this is how they respond.

"If things keep going the way they are, if a buyer is found, there won't be a workforce left to work for the new owner. If they expect these employees to come running back when there's a new owner, that might not be the case."

Family-run MEC was set up in the town in 1968, and continues to trade from its original base in Banks Road.

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

Customers include Nissan and ThyssenKrupp Automotive (TKA) Tallent Chassis.