TOBACCO workers, who this week took their fight against EU legislation on tar levels to Brussels, have gained significant support from a European colleague.

Union members from the Rothmans factory in Darlington, now owned by British American Tobacco (BAT), held a meeting with a cross-party group of MEPs this week, to outline their concerns over proposals currently going through the European Parliament.

If passed the EU proposal will mean a blanket ban on the marketing and manufacture of cigarettes above 10mg tar, and the use of descriptions such as "lights".

The directive would also ensure that health warnings would cover almost half the area of the cigarette packet, and would extend to products destined for export to markets where they would be perfectly legal.

Following the meeting German MEP, Reiner Wieland, a leading member of the German Christian Democratic Union, pledged the workers his support.

North-East MEP, Martin Callanan, who is backing the workers' fight, said: "This is a significant step forward in our campaign to stop the damaging European directive on tobacco legislation.

"Reiner Wieland has pledged his support for the North-East and has said he will vote in the European Parliament against this proposed legislation.

Union leaders at Darlington say the measures would affect 70 per cent of the output of the factory which currently employs 540 staff.

A report published earlier this year by management and unions at both BAT plants in Darlington and Southampton puts the number of jobs at risk in the industry and supplier sector across the country as high as 8,000.

Earlier this month BAT finally closed their Spennymoor factory, where 464 people were employed.