THE largest ice cream factory in Europe is about to open in the North-east - bringing with it as many as 100 new jobs.

Award-winning Richmond Frozen Confectionery has begun work on a £4m plant at Leeming Bar, in North Yorkshire - which will produce one in three of all the ice creams eaten in Britain.

By March next year, it will be pumping out 70m litres of ice cream a year with up to 80 new staff required ready for the launch of seven new production lines, with 20 more posts a possibility as the new factory develops.

"The latest investment means we have now spent some £10m in under five years, making Leeming Bar one of the most up-to-date ice-cream factories in Europe," said group operations director, Ibrahim Najafi.

"It also further reinforces Richmond's determination to remain the dominant whole-line supplier of all ice cream products to the major UK supermarkets,'' he added.

However, the North's gain is to the detriment of Ashford, in Kent, where the company is now closing one of its operations to streamline the business.

As many as 200 people face redundancy, although consultation is under way and relocation packages remain a possibility.

Richmond has grown rapidly since it was founded by Wensleydale landowner and farmer, Jonathan Ropner - also behind the foundation of Dalepak, based on the same industrial estate, adjacent to the A1.

A merger with Windsor Creameries in 1995 and the Leeds Treats Group three years later added to the company's market strength.

However, the real scoop came last year, with the acquisition of Allied Frozen Foods, which gives the company an estimated third of the UK market.

Although there has been a downward trend recently in economy, Karen Beattie, bulk-buy products technical manager at the current Leeming Bar plant, said the industry as a whole is secure.

"It is no longer a case of boom in the summer and leaner times in winter. For example, we now do well at Christmas with products which people buy as a dessert. Variety and versatility are important and the new factory will give us the ability to react quickly to what the market demands."

Personnel and training chief Harry Inman also emphasised that the company's philosophy was to develop staff, with the right candidates encouraged to climb the promotion ladder from the packing room to management.

"We want people who come to us, not to look at work as just a job, but as a sustainable career," he said