A FACTORY is to close its gates for the last time this month with the loss of nearly 100 jobs.

Hero Group, the Swiss food company, will this month shut its Sherburn-in-Elmet plant in Bishopdyke Road.

The company announced the plans last September and entered into a period of consultation with the 90 workers affected, but it is nevertheless a serious blow to the economy of the area.

Malcolm Dowson, the chairman of Sherburn Parish Council, said: “Sherburn as a community is getting bigger but more and more jobs are being lost, which has quite a knock-on effect on a community of our size as it affects local businesses.

“It is a small, close-knit community with a small amount of shops and they rely a lot on local businesses as people don’t travel to Sherburn to do their shopping. It’s unfortunate these kinds of places are closing down on our doorstep.”

Even more disappointing, he said, was the fact that the industrial estate where the Hero Group had its factory was earmarked to become one of the biggest in Europe but up to now there was nothing to show this was going to be the case.

The Bishopdyke Road premises housed both Hero Group and Dr Oetker.

In March 2007, Hero sold the Supercook brand it previously owned to the German food producer famed for its pizzas. The two companies then entered a supply agreement covering warehousing and manufacturing, to “enable a period of stability to exist following the transaction”.

Dr Oetker has since moved out of the building and transferred its operations to premises at Thorpe Arch, near Wetherby.

The Press contacted Hero UK regarding the closure of the Sherburn plant but a spokeswoman for the company said they had no comment.