TONY Blair has agreed to meet Yorkshire beet growers whose livelihoods are threatened by the closure of York's British Sugar factory.

The Prime Minister told Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh he sympathised with the plight of constituents affected by the decision to shut the works off Boroughbridge Road. Speaking during Prime Minister's Question Time in the Commons, Miss McIntosh had said the closure would lead to a large number of job losses in York and cuts in income for North Yorkshire farmers.

"Will you agree to meet some of the growers of sugar beet in North Yorkshire to see a way forward possibly through sugar beet being developed as bio-ethanol?" she asked.

Mr Blair said he was happy to have such a meeting.