MORE than 40 textile workers facing redundancy just after Christmas have been told they are unlikely to receive any money for months.

Many of the 42 workers at Wills Fabrics, Sykeside, Haslingden, have worked for the company more than 20 years and will be entitled to three months pay in lieu of notice and statutory redundancy pay from the Department of Trade and Industry.

The company closes tomorrow and the workers have been given holiday pay until January 4 - after that they will have to wait for Government cash and they have been told it could be as long as 17 weeks before they receive any payments, because of the high number redundancies nationally.

And they can get no help from the Benefits Agency because if they are due to receive or are in receipt of money in lieu of notice they are still considered to be working and so can't claim a Job Seekers' Allowance.

When workers inquired about hardship payments they were told they would have to meet strict criteria for an income support urgent cases payment. If their partner still worked, no matter how little they earned, it was unlikely they would meet the requirements for the benefit. One worker said: "We will be contacting our MP Janet Anderson about this because there needs to be a change in regulations. The company is closing through no fault of our own, there is Government money to pay us the wages and redundancy we are entitled to, but we will be waiting months for our money.

"It used to be that you could receive interim payments and when the redundancy money came through the amount you had already received was deducted - now you have to live on nothing for months."

Administrator Michael Alexander was brought in to try to rescue the household textiles company Wills Group, which has outlets in Oswaldtwistle and Waterfoot. He said the closure of the Haslingden base and another in Rochdale were necessary to secure the other factories.

One worker said: "The majority of the people here have worked for 20 years plus. They have families and mortgages and bills to pay and they don't know what they are going to do.

"Because their wife works they will not be able to claim the hardship payment, but often, their partner's wage is not enough to cover the bills and the mortgage."

A spokesman for the Department of Social Security said: "Since this problem came to our attention the DSS has been working to simplify the complex legislation in this area and is currently considering proposals for changes to the relevant benefit legislation."

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