GROWING hopes of a solid recovery in the British economy were dented yesterday by the news that shoe manufacturer' C.&.J. Clark is to make 1,400 people redundant. The company said it was shutting its factories in Plymouth, where 320 people are employed Shepton Mallet, Somerset, with the loss of 400 jobs and at Askam in Furness, Cumbria, where there are 245 workers making K Brand shoes.

It said a further 330 jobs would be cut at its head office in Street in Somerset, the home of the 170 year old family owned shoe company.