TRADE union leaders in Northern Ireland condemned Michelin bosses and unionist politicians following yesterday’s announcement that 860 jobs will be lost in Ballymena when a tyre factory closes.

The company announced that it would “run down” and shut its factory in the County Antrim town by mid-2018 as part of a restructuring plan that will also see investment in its facilities in Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent.

The announcement comes a year after another major local employer, the JTI Gallagher tobacco factory, announced plans to close its operation in the town by 2017, with the loss of 877 jobs.