Carpet making in Bradford is to end with the closure of one of the most famous manufacturers.

Charles Crossley Carpets of Queensbury, which has roots stretching back more than two centuries, is closing its Black Dyke Mills site at the end of the month. Negotiations are underway to sell the plant, the name and the order book to an undisclosed buyer.

But the company has confirmed that if the sale goes ahead any manufacturing will not be in the district.

The company's workforce has shrunk from 13 to eight since last summer. All those involved will lose their jobs in a week's time. All production has ceased at the factory and technicians are dismantling the two broadlooms and other machinery.

Sales director Roger Whipp said: "Unfortunately it's now 100 per cent certain that Crossley's will be leaving Black Dyke Mills."

Company chairman Anthony Crossley, the seventh generation of his family to be involved with the firm, said that there was no possibility at all of selling the company as a going concern for anything like the price it was worth. But he was optimistic that the plant and machinery could be sold.

"The only place where the Crossley trade name would be sold is China and I'd be very reluctant to do that," said Mr Crossley. "I wouldn't want to sell the name to someone who would use it without the love and dedication that we've used. It's like wanting a good home for an old animal.

"We've taken the decision regretfully but we're in a position where we can cover our outstanding debts. It seems that manufacturing industries, just like call centres, are moving abroad to take advantage of cheap labour.

"We can't compete with places like China. It's a very bad time for manufacturing, not just for carpets. There are no apprentices coming in. It's seen as an unfashionable business."

Mr Whipp, who has been associated with the company and its predecessor for 48 years, said it was very sad for all those who remained.

"It's sad for me personally. I started with the firm as an apprentice loom tuner." Mr Whipp said Crossley had been forced to close by a combination of low-cost imports and massive changes in home furnishing tastes.

"Market forces have really pushed us down this road," he said. "As well as cheap imports, people are changing to laminated wooden floors.

"We were making high quality carpets and if a young couple bought one it would last them all their lives. But instead people change their lounges every five years."

Charles Crossley started 23 years ago after the demise of Halifax-based carpet giant John Crossley & Sons in 1982. Formed in 1803, the firm built the sprawling Dean Clough Mills complex and once employed more than 5,000.

Mr Whipp, Charles Crossley and production director Roy Thornton were founder shareholders and the firm successfully pursued niche markets for high-quality woven carpets, employing several dozen.

Although Bradford always played second fiddle to locations such as Kidderminster as the heart of the British carpet industry, it has been home to several large manufacturers such as Associated Weavers, Carpets International and Tankard Carpets. All are now defunct.