THE fight to save factories which provide essential employment for disabled workers will take a “significant” step forward today as a 100,000 name petition is submitted to the Government.

Campaigners hope the petition should trigger a political debate about the future of Remploy, a debate which they claim has been stifled so far.

The GMB Union has been holding a number of protests against the possible closure of the company’s 54 factories across the UK when their current funding ends in 2013.

National officer Phil Davies said: "This petition is the proof of the strength of feeling about the Government’s planned destruction of Remploy.”

About 200 people are employed at five Remploy factories in the North East, including 41 at Spennymoor, County Durham.

Ken Stubbs, who has worked at the Spennymoor factory since 1978, said many MPs across the country are supporting Remploy, but said the Government has so far been able to avoid debating the issue.

He said: "Now this petition is in we have made a very significant step in getting this issue debated in the House of Commons, and this needs to happen."

The 61-year-old married father-of-one suffers from epilepsy and has a permanent limp as a result of an accident that shattered his left ankle.

After being classed as disabled in his early 20s, he found getting a job interview was near impossible, until he eventually secured work at Remploy.

Mr Stubbs said without the opportunity to work at Remploy, many disabled people would face a life on benefits.

He said: "If you’re a parent of a disabled child, you want them to have a positive future where they can live as normally as possible with full-time employment.

"I would say 95 per cent of the people at Remploy would not be able to get work elsewhere and their lives would be confined to no hope and on benefits."

The Government claims it is losing £63m a year on the factories, but Union officials say that is because earlier EU regulations were starving them of work.

Mr Davies said: "The rules have been changed and the factories can be successful again when they are fully loaded.

"Making uniforms for the Armed Forces, emergency services and medical staff, and supplying schools would more than keep them busy."