Around 25 jobs are to go at a major employer in East Lancashire.

Crown Paints, which has its headquarters in Darwen, is to make redundancies as it moves part of its business to Hull.

The company employs more than 1,100 people across its sites in Darwen and Hull, as well in its decorating centres throughout the UK.

It is believed that due to an increase in the cost of materials, the company is closing its water-based paint plant in Darwen and relocating its operations to Hull.

A spokesperson for Crown Paints said: “Like many businesses in the UK, we have experienced a marked increase in the cost of raw materials and packaging which, according to The British Coatings Federation looks set to continue throughout 2022 and beyond.

Lancashire Telegraph:

"As a result, we have needed to seek efficiencies in other areas of the business and this has resulted in the decision to close our water-based plant in Darwen and relocate operations to Hull, where our existing facility has capacity to accommodate this.

"We are working with trade unions to minimise the impact of this change as much as possible however this is likely to result in around 25 redundancies and we are currently in consultation with all employees concerned.

“As a significant, long-standing employer in Darwen, we remain committed to our Lancashire base, having invested in our solvent-based plant last year and we have further plans to continue to develop the site in the future.”

The trade union GMB has been contacted for a statement.