JOBS are at risk at a Bradford factory after the company announced it was cutting a quarter of its UK workforce.

McBride, which employs around 300 people at its Dudley Hill site, has started a six-week consultation about 400 of its 1,600 posts at factories in Bradford, Hull, Barrow in Cumbria and Middleton in Great Manchester.

Staff were told of the potential job losses at each site today. However, the firm could not confirm the number of jobs at risk at each site.

McBride, the maker of own-label household cleaning and toiletry products, with factories in Yorkshire and the North West, blamed the the impact of supermarket price wars for the announcement.

The firm, whose clients include Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda, said its sales would be three per cent lower this year as rival makers of branded goods have cut prices to attract customers.

A McBride spokesman handed the Bradford factory a potential boost, saying production of some of its household liquids products would move from its Hull site to Dudley Hill.

Jobs fears were first raised in April this year after a review of the company's UK operations said it was likely to lead to a "significant restructuring of our activities, including capacity reduction".

A representative from the GMB Union is holding a meeting with McBride's Bradford employees at the Dudley Hill factory tomorrow,

McBride chief executive Chris Bull said: "We are announcing a robust plan that will help restore our UK profitability. We will be entering into full and meaningful consultation with colleagues affected by these proposals."

McBride said none of its four UK sites would close completely, although its Hull and Barrow factories are expected to be the most heavily affected.

The Hull site currently makes household liquid and aerosol products, while the Barrow plant makes laundry powders and tablets as well as dishwasher products.

The group employs around 5,000 staff at 17 plants across Europe, China and Vietnam, but there are no plans to transfer the jobs overseas.

The business said the growth it had seen in France, Poland, Germany and the Benelux countries was offset by a weak retail environment in the UK and Italy due to "continued and increased branded promotional activity."

The firm, which was founded by Robert McBride in 1927 to supply the cotton industry, has had contract revenues fall 20 per cent during the year, due to the winding down of existing deals.