Disability employer Remploy is proposing to close five factories

Hundreds of people, many of them disabled, could lose their jobs as the disability employer Remploy is proposing to close five of its factories in our region.

It says the sites in Ashington, Newcastle, Gateshead, Spennymoor and Cleator Moor are unviable, because the government has reduced its subsidy. Only Sunderland will definitely stay open. The government says it wants to focus on helping disabled people into mainstream jobs.