SPORTSWEAR and outdoor clothing group Blacks Leisure is moving its head office operation to Peterlee.

The group's small London head office, which has a staff of ten, will close, with a handful of jobs being transferred to the former Fisher Price factory on the North-West Industrial Estate in Peterlee, which it purchased in January 1999.

The news came as the group reported dismal sales over the Christmas period.

A spokesman for the group said: "Blacks had a bit of a tough time over Christmas and has decided to move its head office operations to the North-East.

"The retail business has always been located in the region, so it makes more sense to have the whole operation based there."

The group saw £32m wiped off its stock market value after reporting the poor sales.

The company, which trades through its Millets, Blacks Outdoor and First Sport shops, said sales during November and December had been "very disappointing".

Mild weather during December meant fewer people rushed out to buy protective clothing, the company said. Both its sport and fashion and outdoor divisions had seen sales significantly below expectations.

Profits for the year would therefore be below those of last year, although only slightly so, the group said.

The news sent Blacks' shares tumbling, falling 34 per cent, or 79p to 155p, on the London Stock Exchange.

Total retail sales for the 19 weeks to January 6 were 6.5 per cent up, with sales in the critical six week Christmas period to the same date up 4.1 per cent.

But on a like-for-like measure, sales were down 1.7 per cent in the 19 weeks and a hefty 4.7 per cent in the six-week period.

Blacks' sport and fashion division, which includes First Sport and active leisurewear store AV, saw like-for-likes fall 4.9 per cent in the six weeks.

In the outdoor division, comprising Millets, Blacks Outdoor, Free Spirit and Air, like-for-likes were down 4.5 per cent over the Christmas period, with the mild weather being blamed.

The situation is a marked decline on last year, where Blacks saw like-for-like sales stride ahead by more than eight per cent.