HUNDREDS of people are continuing to sign up each day to our petition to save Terry's, with the number of signatures now flying past the 3,000 mark.

Accompanying comments from some readers continue to display a deep anger with American parent company Kraft at the decision to close down the York chocolate factory and move production abroad.

People are backing our calls for the company to move instead to a new site in the York area, saving many of the 316 jobs under threat of the axe.

Some have also come forward to say they plan to boycott Terry's goods - or even all Kraft products - in protest at the decision.

Sue Wiper, of Pear Tree Avenue, York, said in an email: "Should the Terry's site be moved to other areas of Europe, I will boycott any Terry's product and will recommend my whole family and friends do likewise." She said she hoped British-owned supermarkets could be persuaded to threaten a boycott of Terry's products made abroad.

She also hoped City of York Council planners would refuse permission for the building of any residential properties on the site, thereby lowering its sales value.

She claimed Kraft's decision to move out was because of the value of the land - a claim which has previously been strongly denied by factory boss John Pollock.

An "exiled Yorkshire woman" now living in Cumbria, M Williams, who says she grew up with the aroma of chocolate in her nostrils, also suggested the closure was proposed because of the profit that selling the site would yield.

"Terry's is part of York's history," she said. "Confectionery-making was part of York's development into the thriving city it is today. How can its name survive if it is not connected with York?"

Glyn Cartwright, of Clayfield Close, Pocklington, said the closure would result in a "very sad departure from York... especially as it is a cost-cutting exercise by transferring resources abroad. Shame on the current owners!"

Support also continues to come in via our website www.thisisyork.co.uk from online readers abroad, with signatories including Tony Mason, of Perth, and Marcia Friedman, of Brooklyn, New York.

A few readers have disagreed with the campaign. John Steel asked whether the closure might not be a "golden opportunity" for Terry's staff to re-train and "move on with some cash to do it."

He also asked what the redundancy arrangements were.

The Evening Press reported last night that union leaders were now in talks with the company about matters such as redundancy terms and support for workers losing their jobs, while continuing to investigate whether they can put together a package of proposals to relocate in the York area.

A worker, who did not wish to be named, welcomed the news, saying employees were keen to know where they stood over redundancy.

Meanwhile, the Evening Press is still waiting for a response to its open letter, sent to Kraft's American boss, Roger Deromedi, on April 20, calling for the company to reconsider its bombshell decision to close the factory and move production abroad.

Updated: 10:42 Friday, May 14, 2004