A LAST ditch deal to keep Ross-on-Wye's Trelleborg factory from closure could see the site scaled down and some jobs saved.

Workers want to put their plan - based on proposals originally intended for the Alton Road plant some years ago - to the company president in person.

Herefordshire MEP Liz Lynne is backing them. She has asked for Foreign Office help in pitching the plan to the site's Swedish owners.

Hereford MP Paul Keetch is to press the workers' case with the Ministry of Defence. The MOD puts the gasket producing plant amongst its suppliers.

Mr Keetch has already had talks with the Department of Trade and Industry over the site's future.

Trelleborg has told the Hereford Times that tough trading conditions mean moving much of the Ross factory's manufacturing work to Mexico and the rest to another plant near Tewkesbury.

The Ross site closure had nothing to do with the capabilities and commitment of its workforce said Trelleborg global operations president Roger Kent.

But unions claimed an economic case for closing the factory - at a cost of 148 jobs - could not be sustained when the plant was in profit with orders worth £427,000 on its books.

As proposed, the shutdown would reduce the site over the next 12 to 18 months. Consultation with the staff association and on-site unions is underway.

Melvin Hodges, senior union steward, says the staff counter-proposal centred on selling off half of the current site and scaling down work with the loss of some jobs - but not all.

A similar plan was first pitched for the plant some years ago said Mr Hodges. The workforce wanted to put the details of its updated version to Trelleborg President/CEO Frederick Arp in person, he said.

Wayne Powell, area organiser for the GMB union, said that the invitation to Mr Arp showed the 'level of commitment and belief' that the workers had in themselves and the site.

Many of the employees have been with the factory - under various parent company names - for 25 years or more.

David Hill, general manager of the plant, said that consultation over the closure was on going with no final decision taken.