A COUNCIL has pledged to help 175 workers who were last week told they were being made redundant.

On Friday, SCA Packaging announced it was closing its cardboard factory in Faverdale, Darlington, next year, in a bid to cut costs.

The company has two neighbouring factories in Faverdale, but only the corrugated cardboard plant will be affected by the cuts.

A spokeswoman for Darlington Borough Council said: "It is always regrettable when jobs are lost in the town and we will be working with other agencies, such as JobCentre Plus, to offer any help we can to people who lose their jobs."

The Darlington factories make up one of the packaging operation's largest UK sites. It also has factories in Peterlee, Hartlepool and York. Although SCA has pledged to invest in its other North-East factories, it did not rule out further job losses last week.

SCA Packaging's parent company Svenska Cellulose warned earlier this year that its UK workforce could bear the brunt of a restructuring operation that would cost 3,600 jobs across Europe.

SCA, which also makes toilet tissue, said it was cutting costs after being affected by tough market conditions.