75 year-old Somerset cheese factory faces closure

The manager of a cheese factory in Somerset - due to stop production next month - says he's still hoping a last minute buyer will step in. Cricketer Farm has been making cheese in Nether Stowey for 75 years.

It buys millions of litres of milk from local farms, but can't compete with the giant processors.

It is a sobering thought, that people who have worked at Nether Stowey for 40 years are due to lose their jobs because extra milk is being produced in New Zealand or because Chinese consumption has gone down.

But milk, or rather the butter and cheese made from it is as much a global commodity as oil or wheat - and as a result, nearly 70 jobs are due to go.

26 farms currently sell their milk to the dairy and Cricketer Farm is honouring their contracts and helping to find new buyers. But cheese production is due to stop in October and packaging will finish in January.

The only hope is a buyer will step in at the last minute.