A BLEAK mid-winter faces more than 1,000 families in Kent this Christmas.

For the workers at the Morrisons’ distribution depot in Aylesford the muddied waters of their future may soon reveal what all have been suspecting, but none has been willing to confirm – that the supermarket has no more use for them.

Along with the 100 staff at the chain’s St George’s store in Canterbury, Morrisons’ Aylesford workforce will start the new year looking for new employment.

In a small community like Aylesford, where many depend on work in the area’s warehouses, this is not an enviable position.

However, even less enviable is the last year through which staff in Aylesford have endured rumour and speculation that their jobs were to go, with no official comment or clarification from senior managers.

The unpleasant spectre of strike action forced Morrisons to go public, but as the saga has unfolded the company has appeared in a poor light.

Described by union representatives as the unacceptable face of big business, Morrisons has done itself no favours.

So what has happened in the offices of former powerhouse and darling of the retail world Sir Kenneth Morrison?

It’s a point MP Jonathan Shaw has raised by taking staff complaints right to the top in a personal letter to the chief executive. The company’s failure to communicate with staff has at best been called "disgraceful".

When Morrisons took over Safeway it promised its Aylesford staff and Jonathan Shaw that jobs would be safe. Now it is telling union bosses the site is too small for its purposes.

Did Morrisons not realise this before making such a pledge? Any company planning a buy out usually carries out thorough research.

In business, a decision to terminate jobs is always unpleasant, even when trading conditions dictate it, but where Morrisons have failed is in assuming silence and allowing a situation to spiral to damaging heights. According to the GMB, Aylesford is not the only depot to get the silent treatment.

We wait now to see if Mr Shaw’s intervention will ease the strain on workers in Aylesford or whether Morrisons will continue in its current policy to give Kent "more reasons NOT to shop at Morrisons".