FEARS are growing for the future of 35 workers in the North-East after the administrators of Rathbones Bakery announced 82 job losses in Carlisle.

Rathbones, which has a small bakery in Middlesbrough, went into administration on Friday.

Administrators KPMG said that 82 of the 185 staff at Rathbones' Carlisle factory had been made redundant.

Myles Halley, of KPMG Corporate Recovery, said: "We have been reviewing the situation at Carlisle closely since our appointment on Friday.

"The recent fire there resulted in the factory being non-operational for some time and, as such, we can confirm that we have written to 82 members of staff who have been laid off since the fire, to inform them of their redundancy.

"We continue to trade the rest of the business as a going concern and have been speaking to potential buyers with regards to a sale of the firm. At present, there are no plans to make any redundancies at any of the other sites across the UK, although this position remains under review."

Rathbones employs about 1,500 workers in Walsall, Peterborough, Carlisle, Wigan, Wakefield and Middlesbrough.