RETAILER MFI is axeing one in ten jobs at its Teesside factory as the consumer slowdown continues to bite, The Northern Echo has learned.

The Stockton factory, which employs about 700 people making kitchens for the Hygena range, is making 80 workers redundant, it confirmed last night.

Last month, the company announced a 26 per cent fall in half-year profits, but said it was winning the battle to revive sales.

It has already saved £16m as part of a cost-cutting drive in the first half of its financial year and the company has pledged to make further savings in the second half.

Director of corporate affairs Pat Fawson said: "Because of changes in consumer trends on both the kitchen and bedroom fronts, MFI needs to match costs with production.

"Unfortunately, this means MFI will need to reduce its staff level at the Stockton manufacturing plant by approximately 80 people.

"We know this will be a difficult time for our staff and we will of course be taking on our partnership with the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU) during the consultation period, to make the consultation run as smoothly as possible for all those involved.

"The key thing is that we have to match production with demand, and consumer trends have been changing over the past few months."

Allan Grey, of the TGWU, said he had met factory bosses yesterday as the 30-day consultation process began.

He said: "MFI is suffering a fall in demand in the PVC kitchen and bedroom cupboard doors that are mainly made at Stockton.

"With the Stockton factory, redundancies seem to be an annual occurrence as soon as there is a downturn in the market. But this is the largest number we have seen there.

"I think it is a sad reflection of manufacturing conditions in the region. We are trying to mitigate the number of redundancies and also seek assurances about the long-term future of the factory. Although everything is OK at the moment, we hope MFI will bring any new ranges to the Stockton site because the area needs it."

A number of UK retailers have seen a fall in consumer spending following a series of interest rate rises.