FOOTWEAR factory workers facing unemployment fear they will not be able to find new jobs within the industry.

Around 120 jobs are set to go as Newmans, one of the last East Lancashire shoe firms, plan to stop manufacturing at their Blackburn factory in November.

Production worker Nigel Jackson, who has worked for the firm since he left school 39 years ago, said: "There's more chance of me winning the lottery than getting another job. There are only a few small, specialist shoe factories left.

"We hear politicians going on about fair trade but how can it be fair when we can't compete with imports?

"In the Far East, wages are very low but here you can't live on less than £150 a week."

Mr Jackson, of Norman Street, Blackburn, believes both the Conservative and Labour governments are to blame for neglecting manufacturing industries.

He said: "It's not just the shoe industry, other businesses and shops are affected too. Blackburn will be a ghost town before we know it."

Mr Jackson believes he is too old and is unlikely to be given the chance to retrain, but sisters Hawa and Hamida Ravat, of Audley Range, Blackburn, are hoping for new careers. Hawa, 19, and Hamida, 17, joined the firm when they left school at 16. Hawa said: "The chances of us getting another job in the industry are very slim. I liked working there but I don't care what I do as long as I have a job."

Hawa hopes to get work in a supermarket or grocers' while Hamida plans to retrain on a computing course and work as a receptionist.

Graeme Walker,16, of Craham Drive, Blackburn, who has worked here for just six weeks after leaving school, said: "This was my first job. I suppose I'll just have to try and find another job."

The Bank Top firm, which opened 63 years ago, plans to retain 10 or 20 employees in other parts of the business and concentrate on distributing and selling imported shoes.

Eight months ago, almost 300 workers lost their jobs at Lambert Haworth's Greenbridge works, Rawtenstall, and earlier this year another Blackburn manufacturer, J Walsh, went into receivership.

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