A WORKING party is to be set up in a last-ditch attempt to save a Radcliffe factory.

All 98 jobs at Strebor Diecasting on Hutchinson Way hang in the balance as the 70-year-old firm faces the almost impossible task of finding £4 million of new work each year just to survive.

But in a meeting on Monday (June 4) between management, elected workplace representatives and a representative of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, bosses agreed to establish a working group to look at ways of keeping the company open.

Personnel director Maureen Howarth said: "While it would be going too far to say the mood was optimistic, it was certainly an amicable meeting."

She added: "The clock is ticking so it will be a matter of weeks, not months, before an ultimate decision is made on the future of the firm."

The company, which produces high pressure diecastings in zinc and aluminium alloys, as well as locks for the car industry, has been trading at a loss over the last two-and-a-half years.

Its closure is being blamed on several factors including an escalation in operating costs and the fact that funding is no longer available for further investment in both human resources and equipment.