THE future of a bearings plant could soon be decided after a delegation from its new parent company arrived in the region yesterday.

The former IR Torrington site, in Yarm Road, Darlington, welcomed representatives from bearings manufacturer Timken, which bought the company last month.

Timken acquired the Torrington group from owners Ingersoll-Rand for $840m (£521.4m), a move announced on October 16 last year, but not completed until February 18.

US-firm Timken is the world's largest manufacturer of tapered roller bearings and mechanical seamless steel tubing.

Its purchase of Torrington, which had 2002 sales of $1.2bn (£745m), creates the world's third-largest bearings company with approximately $3.8bn (£2.36bn) in sales and expands the company's portfolio of automotive and industrial bearings-based products and service solutions.

The Darlington arm of the Torrington empire has been in limbo for a number of months.

Andy Dillon, plant manager, said: "We are waiting to find out what the ongoing or future manufacturing strategy holds with the new owner."

The workforce at the Yarm Road plant has fallen from 500 employees in 1980 to 105 today.

Timken will integrate Torrington into its business structures and expects to save $20m (£12.5m) by the end of the first 12 months following the acquisition and $80m (£50m) by the end of 2005.

The new owner said savings are expected to come from consolidating purchasing activities and distribution channels, combining operations and eliminating redundancies within the organisation.

Timken now employs 28,000 people worldwide in operations in 29 countries.