PART-time packers at Terry's chocolate factory in York left work stunned and some weeping after hearing that 47 of them are to be made redundant at the end of the month.

Parent company Kraft Foods announced today that the part- timers had to go "in response to an increasingly competitive marketplace and need to focus resources on those confectionery brands with the greatest growth potential".

The announcement, which reduces the number employed at the Bishopthorpe Road site to 406, comes after Kraft Foods was hit by a downturn in export demand this year following several years of rapid growth.

Shocked workers, mostly women, were told the news at meetings of each of the three shifts yesterday. The meetings were attended by Terry's plant manager John Earnshaw and the GMB Union convenor Vic Bottrell.

Throughout today the workers were being interviewed to discuss their personal situations.

Afterwards Mr Earnshaw said: "Decisions about redundancies are always the toughest to make. But we believe this is necessary to safeguard our long-term competitive position in the interests of all of our employees."

Packers leaving the factory stayed tight-lipped. But one woman packer, who works in the first of three shifts at the factory's All Gold packing section, said: "They only want seasonal workers, but this is a human tragedy because a lot of people have worked part-time there for more than ten years, and some for as long as 30 years.

"Many of us are parents. I have two children and I receive Family Tax Credit. I'm going to lose that now. What am I going to do? My children are used to the routine of being picked up from school. If I get another job there's no certainty I'll be able to do that.

"The management did ask us to go on a four-day week of our choice. Some agreed, but this was impossible for many. Why can't we job share? Some of us left that meeting crying and shaking. It was completely a bolt out of the blue."

Updated: 11:52 Tuesday, February 12, 2002