NORTHERN Ireland clothing and textile industry has suffered a further blow wit the news that one of its oldest linen mills is to close, with the loss of more than 100 jobs.

Employees at John Andrews & Co in Comber Co Down, were given the news late last week by management, which warned of the "probability of a redundancy situation". Talks between management and union officials began immediately, but a union representative said that it looked likely that all 117 jobs at the factory would be lost.

Mr Tom Andrews, the managing director of the family owned company, which has produced wet spun flax and linen yarn for the past 133 years, blamed a downturn in the demand for linen, an increase in the price of raw materials, and increased competition from the third world.

A union representative, Mrs Albert Mills, of the T&GWU, said that the closure was "another nail in the coffin of the linen industry", and a major blow for the Comber area.

"This is a traditional industry where whole families have been employed by the company," he said, "and it will have a devastating effect on the town."

Mr Mills said the company suffered from a lack of investment, and he blamed the government for doing nothing to protect indigenous industry.

"They do not appear to have either the political will or the financial commitment to help employers in Northern Ireland's textile industry through the present crisis," he said.

An IDB spokesman said the agency had been working closely with the company in recent months in an attempt to save the business.