A TEXTILES firm is to close its Blackburn warehouse.

Bosses at J Rosenthal said that the cuts will see the Bury-based company centralise its warehousing operation in Salford.

The company has managed two warehousing facilities in Blackburn, Prospect Mill in Walter Street, which is the older of the two sites, and Imperial Mill in Gorse Street.

J Rosenthal has rented the additional space at Imperial since the mid-1990s and this will be retained to service the mail order side of the business.

It is expected 33 staff will work here, a reduction from the total of 97 across the Blackburn business.

Some staff have been given the opportunity to go to Salford.

Managing director Harry Rosenthal said: “Prospect Mill has simply become too inefficient for us to justify the costs.

“Because floor space is so expensive we needed a building with the height to allow us to maximise cubic capacity.

“No amount of investment could have achieved the necessary updates, it’s an old warehouse designed for a different time.

“It is regrettable that some staff opted to take redundancy rather than travel to Salford.”