SHOCK redundancies have been made at Radcliffe's East Lancashire Paper Mill as it emerged that the company is in serious financial difficulties.

Around 40 members of the 250-strong workforce were made redundant on Friday (Jan 12) when the 139-year-old company officially went into administration.

Strong foreign competition, the strength of sterling and escalating raw material costs have been blamed.

Now a team from chartered accountants Arthur Andersen have been brought in in an attempt to save it from going into receivership.

Spokesman Ursula Colgan said: "The administrators plan to work with the management team to continue to trade with the objective of achieving its refinancing or its sale as a going concern. They will immediately undertake a detailed review of the business to try to return it to profitability as soon as possible."

Mr Martin Roskell (37), of Outwood Road, is one of the workers who was told he no longer had a job.

"I found out when I got a phone call on Friday evening. I was devastated," he said. "We all knew the company was in trouble but this came out of the blue. We had no warning. I'm very worried and depressed." He has worked for the company for the past 21 years. It was his only job since leaving school.

"I know of one man who has been there for 42 years who was also made redundant, so it can't be based on a last-in first-out basis can it?"

Mr John Burton (62), of Milton Road, is another of the casualties. Like Mr Roskell, he too worked in the finishing department.

"The way they broke the news to us was bloody awful. We've been given no proper explanation and have just been fobbed off."

He too was informed of his fate over the phone on Friday.

"It came as a shock. I have got angina and I could have had a heart attack," he said.

The latest round of redundancies follows a number of earlier ones at what was once one of Radcliffe's biggest employers. In 1997, 40 redundancies were made, and three years later another 50 jobs were axed. These were blamed on the effects of the strong pound abroad, a series of rises in the price of pulp and financial difficulties in the packaging division.

It has been a turbulent 11 years for the company. Back in 1989 it was struggling to survive in a competitive cut-throat market and had pre-tax losses of £4.55 million in the first eight months alone.

But in 1990 there was a management buy-out and a six-man team went on to implement a £6 million, three-year investment programme. By 1994 they had acquired full control of the business in a £10.3 million deal and the company reported record profits.

In 1995 it was given approval for a £3.5 million plan for a water recycling and effluent treatment plant. And the following year it opened a £17 million combined heat and power plant.

In 1997 it was announced that a further £12 million was to be pumped into the business in a three year programme and last year came news of a £3.36 million investment programme.