WORKERS at a York factory which finds jobs for disabled people have voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action as the clock ticks down towards its closure.

The Remploy site, in Redeness Street, is one of 28 plants facing the axe by the end of the next month after the Government decided they no longer gave value for money, with machinery being removed and the factory being put up for sale, as revealed by The Press earlier this week.

But the York workforce have vowed to fight to keep it open, and 86 per cent of those who took part in a ballot by the GMB union have said they are in favour of industrial action - which is now set to happen next week.

"We are giving Remploy management seven days notice and having further discussions over what form the action will take," said John Wilson, GMB's assistant shop steward at the York factory.

"We are still deciding what we will do, but we will definitely be doing something and we are pleased to have such a strong mandate - it shows the strength of feeling among the workers that so many of them were prepared to back the union.

"Everybody is obviously disappointed to have seen the York factory put up for sale, and it seems quite a petty move, but there is still a strong sense of determination to save it."

The York site employs 51 people, with Remploy saying they are being individually consulted about their options and none of them will be made redundant through the closure programme.