CHEMICALS company DuPont is to split off its Lycra, nylon and polyester businesses.

The division employs about 1,000 staff at Wilton, on Teesside.

The move is the next step in the transformation of DuPont, which has also announced plans to streamline its other business into five growth platforms.

The new, wholly-owned subsidiary, to be called DuPont Textiles and Interiors, will include the nylon fibres, polyester fibres and Lycra businesses.

The polyester joint venture between DuPont and Sabanci, DuPont SA, currently employs 400 staff, while DuPont Nylon and DuPont Polyester Technology employ about 600 staff between them.

The chemical group is considering all options for the business, including selling shares to the public. But it has not ruled out other options, including selling out to another chemicals company.

DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles Holliday said: "A company can operate successfully for 200 years only by continually reinventing itself.

"Our new textiles and interiors subsidiary will have the scale, global reach and flexibility to be highly successful in an industry undergoing fundamental structural change."

DuPont Textiles and Interiors will be the world's largest integrated fibres company, with annual sales estimated at £4.6bn, about 23 per cent of total DuPont sales.

It will be led by DuPont executive vice-president and chief operating officer Richard Goodmanson and a team including group vice-presidents Steven McCracken and George MacCormack.

Mr Holliday said: "Our nylon, polyester and Lycra businesses have played a very important role in DuPont for many decades.

"They have served our company, our shareholders and our customers extremely well. Now, with rapidly changing industry dynamics and tough market realities, we believe the course we have chosen is necessary to allow them to succeed in the future."

The move to split off the textiles business will rid DuPont of a business that has held back group growth in the past few years. Last year, DuPont announced plans to cut 5,000 jobs, the majority of those in the textiles business.

Mike Brider from the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU), who represents workers at DuPont's operations at Wilton, said: "My concern is that DuPont will use this restructuring as an opportunity to change the terms and conditions of the workforce at the site.

"If they attempt this, then they will have a fight on their hands.