Union dismay over job losses

The road transport company, part of PD Ports, Logistics and Shipping, which owns Tees Port, has entered a 30-day consultation period with unions.

It is anticipated that more than a third of its 80-strong workforce will go.

The majority of the losses will be among road tanker drivers and back-room staff, including accounts and general office workers. A further seven jobs will be lost at PDL's operations in West Bromwich.

PDL provides haulage services for a number of manufacturers and Teesside chemical producers including Huntsman Tioxide, Ineos and Elementis.

Redundancies at Black & Decker and British American Tobacco's closure of the Darlington Rothman's plant had ian affect on the business.

Jim French, PDL's operations director, said: "We are very disappointed to have to announce these changes, but the diminishing market for the type of service we have been offering in the North-East has made the decision inevitable. We will make every effort to seek alternative employment opportunities within other parts of the PD Group for those employees affected by this restructuring."

Allan Gray, regional officer for the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), said the news was a blow to the region.

"Naturally, our reaction is one of dismay. This is only a small to medium operation, therefore 30 redundancies in that kind of operation is significant. It is over 30 per cent of the total workforce, which is a very worrying situation."

Mr Gray said the TGWU would work with PDL to minimise the impact of any job losses.

"We need to have more meetings to see if we can mitigate some of the redundancies," he said.

"The company is downsizing, which is an awkward trend when we see the loss of these kinds of jobs. Within Teesside, there has been massive job losses, especially within the manufacturing industry. We need to make sure that there will not be a black hole of unemployment in Teesside."