WORKERS at a former York-based printer have left their jobs for the final time.

As reported in The Press, about 200 workers at Flaxby-based telephone directory printer RR Donnelley, which used to print the Yellow Pages, were told in October that the company would be closing its last remaining North Yorkshire site.

The site closed for the final time on New Year's Eve, following three months of consultation which saw many employees assisted with finding new roles or training.

One former worker, who asked not to be named, praised the company for assisting its workers, but said it was a sad day for many.

He said: "We have had three months to think about it and people there have had a lot of service and some were very upset. But we all had a pretty good settlement, which helps. I think everyone was quite happy with their settlement.

"I was there for 25 years, but there were some there 30 or 40 years. It's the end of an era really. We were taken over by the Americans about 25 years ago and all kept it going but times change. It didn't really feel like it would be coming towards this."

The company had operated from Boroughbridge Road until 2001 when it moved to Flaxby, but a series of redundancies were than made over the following decade, with 25 jobs lost in 2009, and 145 lost in 2007 following the loss of two major contracts.

The worker said an attempt by the company to return to commercial printing about three years ago had not been a success due to the nature of the market, but he felt the company had handled the closure as well as possible.

He said: "Obviously it's a very competitive market out there and that was it, really.

"I have had a good pay off so I can afford to sit down and think about it and contemplate the future so there's no immediate rush. Some people already have jobs and are moving into or out of the industry. The company have helped with training and consultations, and helped with CVs. They've been very good, I can't fault them and they have treated the workers with respect."