Plans by a furnishings giant to close its Keighley factory, with a loss of 220 jobs, have sent shock waves through the town.

And the company has been criticised for failing to seek outside help in a bid to stay in Keighley.

Silentnight Furniture last Friday announced proposals to close its Dalton Lane factory and concentrate production at a plant in Sunderland.

Keighley councillor Barry Thorne, deputy leader of Bradford Council's Labour group, said: "Silentnight has been going a long time and it has been a reasonably good company for a lot of years.

"To my knowledge it has not made any approach to the council for assistance to stay in Keighley, which is a shame. If it was genuinely interested in the community it would be talking to local people."

Councillor Simon Cooke, the council's executive member for the economy, said council officers would offer Silentnight any help they could to minimise the impact of the proposed closure.

He said: "I am not aware of the full reasons behind the company's plans, but these are commercial decisions and at the end of the day there is only so much the council can do to help.

"The closure announcement is very sad news for Keighley, and clearly is a tragedy for those 200-plus people who work there, and their families.

"I have spoken to officers and they will be approaching Silentnight to ascertain the impact of the proposals and to provide whatever help is possible."

Steve Davison, president of Keighley Trades Union Council (TUC), said the closure was another nail in the coffin of manufacturing in the town.

He said the whole issue of job losses in Keighley was to be discussed at an executive meeting last night of the TUC.

He added: "We are very concerned at the situation, not just with Silentnight but with other recent job losses in the area."

Workers at the Dalton Lane plant learned about the proposals last Friday morning.

One employee said: "We have been on short time since January, but this has still come as a surprise. We have 90 days now to see if something can be saved -- but it will be a miracle."

Silentnight Furniture said there had been reduced demand for its products, in an increasingly competitive market, in recent months.

A spokesman said: "As no improvement is in sight, we are to consult with our employees about a proposal to cease manufacturing at Keighley and concentrate all future production at our larger site at Sunderland, which already has sufficient capacity to meet our current and projected sales.

"No exact date for when manufacturing and assembly might end at Keighley has yet been determined as this is still subject to a comprehensive consultation exercise with our employees over the coming weeks.

"This has been a very difficult proposal to make, particularly given the tremendous contribution our employees at Keighley have made to the business over many years.

"Should the factory be closed, every effort will be made to minimise the impact on our 220 employees by re-deployment to other group manufacturing sites and by assisting them to find jobs with other local employers."

Silentnight has occupied the Dalton Lane site for nearly 25 years.