There were no tears among shop floor workers for the demise of a North-East factory which closed today.

Sanyo announced earlier this year it was closing its microwave oven operations at Newton Aycliffe and Thornaby, with the loss of 315 jobs, after deciding they were no longer commercially viable.

Assembly workers from Aycliffe met in the nearby Oak Tree pub after finishing their last shift, but they were certainly not drowning their sorrows.

"They've done me a favour," was one woman's comment. "I'll miss my friends, but I'll not miss that place," said another.

Process operator David Whitehead, 34, from Ferryhill blames bad management for the factory's failure and says the writing was on the wall for some time.

He said: "We've built a model for 12 years and it's never made any money, so why were they building it? The place has been badly run for 12 years."

There is bitterness about the way the closure was announced, many finding out only through reading The Northern Echo, and the way they have been treated in the run up to the closure.

One former employee, who did not want to be named, said: "They treated us badly right to the end.

"They put it across in the press we were getting an enhanced redundancy package but that was only if you stayed to the end, so you couldn't take another job or you lost almost everything.

He added: "When they told us in September they should have closed it and let us go then, or stay until Christmas. There's no good time to lose your job, but just before Christmas makes it worse."

Many of the employees have found new jobs but credit their own efforts and job agency ICM, rather than the company.

Most have no regrets about the closure, except for one aspect. Denise Adams, from Ferryhill, said: "It's sad because we're losing our friends."

About 60 staff are being issued with temporary contracts for a ten-day period next month so the company can finish its order book.

The Aycliffe site, acquired by Sanyo is 1988, is now up for sale for £2m and it is hoped a buyer.