Coalville meat processing company Pilgrim's is to close down its site in the town.

In September, the company proposed the closure of its Mantle Lane factory - putting 350 jobs at risk.

Now Pilgrim's UK has confimed those plans.

Sites at Coalville and Bury St Edmund's in Suffolk will be closed in what is described as a 'phased process'.

In a statement the company said: "Following the conclusion of collective and one-to-one consultations, Pilgrim's UK has made the decision to implement the proposals to close our Bury St Edmunds and Coalville manufacturing sites.

"This will be a phased process while the transfer of products to alternative Pilgrim's UK sites takes place.

"We would like to thank all of those involved in the process, for their outstanding professionalism and high-quality levels of service maintained during what we recognise has been a challenging time. 

"We are working closely with colleagues at risk of redundancy, providing them with support and guidance, including details of alternative opportunities within the Pilgrim's UK network."

In its statement, two months ago, the processor had warned that, over the last 18-months, the UK pig sector had faced "the most challenging time in its history" due to a combination of significant increases in production costs, falling pig prices across Europe and the UK, a decline in demand, labour shortages and the restrictions on the ability to export from some sites into key overseas markets.

The business recorded a loss of £16 million for the year to 26th December 2021, according to its latest annual report.