NORTH-EAST industry suffered a second blow in two days last night with the closure of one shipyard and job losses at another.

Receiver PricewaterhouseCoopers said 170 North-East workers would lose their jobs as part of the shake-up at troubled Cammell Laird.

The firm's Teesside yard will close tomorrow with the loss of 110 jobs because it has completed its orders and no new contracts are on the horizon.

The yard will be mothballed and essential maintenance will be carried out by a staff of about 40.

The other 60 will go at the company's yard at Hebburn, South Tyneside, which will remain open, and 150 jobs will be lost at Birkenhead, near Liverpool.

The decision comes only a day after Corus rejected union plans to save 1,100 Teesside steel jobs.

Last night, angry North-East workers claimed their livelihoods had been sacrificed to save Cammell Laird's other operations.

One worker at Teesside, who asked not to be named, said: "We've been cast aside. The people who are losing their jobs aren't casuals, they are core workers who have given years of loyal service to the company."

There was frustration too that staff at the yard - which carries out ship repair and conversion work - had discovered their fate from media reports.

"We still don't know who will be staying and who will be going," said the worker. "No one has had the courtesy to tell us."

Cammell Laird called in the receivers after it lost a £50m Italian contract to build a cruise ship and because of uncertainty about securing other work.

A spokesman for the receivers said the decision to close the yard at Teesside was taken before they were called in.

The job losses were "inevitable'' following a review of the level of work in Cammell Laird's yards.

He added: "While we are disappointed to have to make these redundancies, we are encouraged by interest shown by prospective purchasers and remain cautiously optimistic of achieving a going concern sale.''

Jimmy Skivington, regional organiser for the Durham and Teesside area for the GMB union, said he was very disappointed and lambasted the lack of consultation from the company.

John Edmonds, general secretary of the GMB, said: "This is obviously a terrible blow for the workers involved. We remain confident that ship production at all three yards remains viable.

"We are in discussions with the receivers and ministers to look at the best way of securing the future of these yards.''

John Quigley, national officer for the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, said: "We are bitterly disappointed both at the announcement and the way it was released.

"We still believe that we can secure a new owner for the yards and we are certainly not ready to raise the white flag.''

Coun David Walsh, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said it was "a very serious blow".

He added: "While it may bring no immediate comfort to those workers directly affected, I think there is some hope in the fact that the receivers have made it clear they have decided to mothball the Teesside yard."