TWO men have been jailed for stealing £65,000 worth of polyurethane foam from an Accrington firm which shut down two days before Christmas with the loss of 64 jobs,

Michael Mason, 36, then a production supervisor at Vitafoam Limited in Dale Street, and said to have played the central role, sold foam blocks to a furniture company boss.

He claimed he made £11,000 -- although buyer David Anderton, 47, told police he handed over £25,000.

Burnley Crown Court heard that his activities did not directly bring the company down but contributed to its poor performance. Mason, of New Oxford Street, Langroyd, Colne, was sent to prison for 15 months, after admitting a two-year conspiracy to steal.

Anderton, of Pendennis Avenue, Lostock, pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal and was jailed for six months. Drivers Mary Laycock, 35, of Laneshaw Close, Darwen, who made about £300 from deliveries, and Gary West, 40, of Carr Bank Square, Atherton, who profited by about £400 were conditionally discharged for two years, after each admitting three counts of handling stolen goods.

Passing sentence Recorder Hiranya Narayan said for whatever reason, and maybe a combination of reasons, Vitafoam closed down on December 23, 1998.

Ian Metcalfe, prosecuting, said shortly before the closure an audit revealed a substantial discrepancy between the polyurethane foam recorded as being ordered and delivered to Accrington and that which had either been used and sold on after manufacture or that was still in stock.

That was a significant factor in the decision to shut the plant.