FIVE hundred jobs are under threat at a North-East factory because the European Union wants to ban high tar cigarettes.

Darlington's Rothmans plant faces extinction under plans to limit the amount of tar in each cigarette to ten milligrams.

The decision will kill some of the most popular brands including Rothmans and Dunhill.

British American Tobacco (BAT), which owns the factory, has warned that three times as many indirect jobs are also in jeopardy in the North-East if the EU directive goes ahead.

But the British Government refuses to accept that the directive threatens jobs.

A spokesman for the Darlington factory, Tom Roberts, said: "If we are banned from producing these products within the EU it will be all too clear what has cost these jobs to go.

"We are not threatening to do this. We are being threatened.

"We are at an absolute loss to understand why this is being imposed. We cannot see what benefit is meant to accrue from it."

BAT has major foreign markets outside of the EU. Under the directive, tobacco producers will be banned from producing high tar cigarettes for sale outside of the community as well as to countries within.

Last year alone, BAT produced 54 billion cigarettes in the UK and Ireland. About 48 billion were sold outside the EU. Thirty-two billion were in the high tar bracket over ten milligrams.

The decision to ban high tar cigarettes would impact on 90 per cent of Darlington's production.

The directive, due to take effect in three years, also bans descriptive words on cigarette packets such as "low tar", "mild" and "special filter".

If approved, it is understood that the tobacco industry would challenge the directive. Brussels bureaucrats claim the purpose of the law would be for trade harmonisation and not on health grounds.

But BAT believes it is a health driven directive which, under European policy, should be a decision for individual governments.

A spokesperson for the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the Union had the full backing of the Government. "There is strong support for the directive because of the health aspects which the directive is promoting."

The DTI rubbished claims of potential job losses. "There is no evidence this directive will lead to job losses," he said.

Darlington MP and Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, could not be be contacted yesterday.