A FAMILY has been forced to cut its losses and close its sawmill after setting up business in the region 35 years ago.
R Forster and Sons, at Cocklebury Sawmills, in Dalton-on-Tees, near Darlington, will cease trading at the end of the month.
The three-acre site was bought by Robert Forster and started out producing pit props for the National Coal Board, and flourished until the decline of the coal industry in the mid-1980s.
The business then adapted to the steel industry, cutting bearers for stacking the metal on to trains.
The family enjoyed another business boom until steel firm Corus shut down its plant at Stoke and the company faced a £25,000 downturn in monthly income.
The closure of the Lackenby steel coil plant, on Teesside, was the final straw for the firm, which endured restrictions on timber movement with the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
Wendy Forster, who runs the company alongside her sons, Colin, Alan and Brian, said it was time to call it a day. She said: "You can't keep going on not making money. The firm lost £25,000 a month when Corus shut down the Stoke plant, and with the Teesside operation going we have no choice."
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