A WORKER at a doomed North-East cigarette factory has been disciplined after he committed an act of sabotage.

The man, who is not being named, deliberately damaged cigarette packets at British American Tobacco's Rothmans plant, in Darlington.

It is believed that the employee, who worked in the case fill department, has been sacked following the incident.

The factory launched an investigation into the damage and discovered that a quantity of packets had been destroyed, but that no cigarettes were ruined.

During the internal probe, the culprit was uncovered and has now been subjected to disciplinary action by the company.

A large number of cigarette packets had to be checked for damage.

British American Tobacco spokesman Tom Roberts said: "I can confirm that some product packaging was deliberately damaged at the factory.

"This was detected. Significant quantities had to be checked and some limited amounts withdrawn from distribution. There was no damage to cigarettes, only the packaging.

"Appropriate action has been taken with the employee concerned."

In June, The Northern Echo exclusively revealed that the Rothmans plant was to close with the loss of 490 jobs.

It is not known if the factory's closure was the reason why the worker sabotaged the company's products.

The factory is responsible for producing Dunhill cigarettes.