JOBS will go at a long-established North-East engineering firm at the end of next month.

Fierce competition from abroad means orders have dried up and 40 jobs will be lost when C N Hadley at Middleton St George closes on October 31.

The company has manufactured components for the chemical, oil and gas industries since it was founded in Darlington in 1933.

The family firm moved to nearby Middleton St George in 1960 and went on to establish a worldwide reputation, at one time employing more than 100 people.

Its Dinsdale Works site was sold to Wimpey Homes for housing last year, but bosses still harboured hopes of trading elsewhere in the Darlington area, or on Teesside.

Joint managing director John Hadley said: "At the time we were intending to relocate somewhere in the area, but the fact is that our sales and profitability just aren't there and we have been advised to close down.

"The problem is that we have got a lot of cheap foreign imports coming in from places like India that have really hit the business."

A skeleton staff will remain on the site throughout November to continue clearing away.

Engineers' union Amicus/ AEEU has been involved in talks aiming to help the workers after the closure.

Mr Hadley, whose grandfather founded the firm, said: "The average length of service has been about 19 years; it's a very loyal workforce. It's a sad decision which we had tried to put off for a couple of years."

After a hugely successful period in the Seventies, the workforce was cut to 80 in the following decade and further still in recent times. The firm has specialised in the manufacture of plate flanges and blanks.

Wimpey Homes has submitted proposals to Darlington Borough Council for 16 houses on the Hadley site.