A KENT food factory has been forced to make 29 redundancies following changes in government guidelines regarding school dinners.

The announcement has been made by Paul Ainsworth, chief executive of Medway Foods, formerly Canterbury Foods, in Dorset Road, Sheerness.

Mr Ainsworth said: “The redundancies are directly linked to the reduced volume being sold to the education sector following the change in government guidelines during 2006 and the subsequent change in strategy adopted by the business."

The change in national policy last year, followed celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s highly successful campaign when he revealed the poor state of children’s diets in his 2005 TV series, Jamie’s School Dinners.

Mr Ainsworth added: “Sheerness produces a wide range of frozen savoury pastry products both for the food service and bake-off markets and has developed a strong and growing business in these sectors.

“The site at Sheerness remains key to the future strategy of Medway Foods and the business has ambitious plans for the future development of the site."