TWO hundred factory jobs have been saved only days before Christmas.

But there was no such good news for 900 fellow workers at frozen food manufacturer Hibernia.

Receivers KPMG at Hibernia yesterday announced that Kerry Foods, based in Ireland, had agreed to buy the Brenda Road plant, in Hartlepool.

That means 200 workers at the factory, which makes Mr Brain's Faggots and own-brand supermarket frozen meals, will have a job for Christmas.

However, 493 jobs at Hartlepool's Oakesway Trading Estate and 400 others at a factory at Preston Farm Industrial Estate, in Stockton, have an uncertain future as KPMG continues the search for a buyer.

KPMG had hoped to sell the Hibernia Foods factories together, so securing all the jobs. However, owners of the Sara Lee franchise in the US, whose products are made at Bridlington, decided to opt out of the plan and find its own deal. That means the Hibernia Food empire is being broken up and sold piecemeal.

A spokesman for KPMG said there was hope a buyer for the Stockton and Hartlepool Oakeway factories could be found. He said: "We are still talking to a number of companies and are hoping to make a further announcement before Christmas."

Alan Milne, regional officer of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, said: "We are obviously delighted that the Brenda Road site has been sold. We were disappointed that Hibernia had to be broken up, but so be it. We will continue to do whatever we can to ensure that the jobs at the other Hartlepool plant and the Stockton site are saved. We will be holding talks with the administrators in the coming days."

Yesterday, workers at Hibernia's Bridlington plant were laid off, although it is expected that Sara Lee will announce a buyer for its franchise in the coming days. It is expected that will ensure the jobs at Bridlington will be saved.