WORKERS at Arla Foods' Newcastle dairy have reacted with disbelief to news the plant is to close with the loss of 147 jobs.

The site, at Benton, Newcastle, will close along with an Arla dairy in Ruislip, west London, in a move that will see a combined total of more than 400 jobs lost.

The company said its processing plant in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, would not be affected.

The group, which produces the Lurpak and Anchor butter brands, said the closure followed a review of operational efficiencies.

The closure is the final phase of a restructuring by the group, which was formed last year in a merger between Express Dairies and Arla UK.

The Newcastle dairy, which produces fresh and flavoured milk and creams, is expected to close next May, four months after the London site.

Union officials said they were trying to secure as many jobs as possible at the Benton plant.

A meeting between management and union representatives is scheduled for early next week.

Tom Ross, from the GMB union, which represents most of the workers at the site, said: "We are certainly not lying down and letting this happen. We will be fighting as hard as we can to save jobs.

"At the moment, there is a feeling of disbelief among workers. They are stunned by what has happened, but that said, it is not totally unexpected since the merger last year."

Earlier this year, the group closed a dairy in Lancashire and announced the end of a glass bottling line at Hatfield Peverel, in Essex. Those moves resulted cost 310 jobs.

Arla human resources director Adrian Thompson said: "Our intention is to give full support to affected staff to help them find alternative employment, subject to the consultation process."

Yesterday's announcement follows the opening of a facility at Stourton, Leeds, which Arla said was the UK's most technologically advanced fresh milk dairy.

The changes also reflect a recent round of negotiations with supermarkets after Arla secured long-term deals with Asda and Tesco, but lost work with Sainsbury's.

In a trading statement yesterday, Arla said it had held its market share in the supermarket fresh milk sector and that the performance of key brands had been "exceptionally strong".