ALMOST 150 employees at a frozen food factory in a Kent town are facing redundancy.

Workers at RHM Frozen Foods on Gillingham's Business Park, may lose their jobs after a buyer could not be found for the firm.

The plant, in Centurion Close, produces frozen pastry for the food industry and was bought by Premier Foods in March.

In June, the food giant, which has about 60 depots across the country, announced it intended to sell the Gillingham business and started looking for a buyer.

The organisation employs about 18,000 nationally, but just days ago, the workforce was told a buyer still hadn’t been found and bosses had decided they will stop production later this year and the factory would close in January 2008.

Bosses told all 147 workers they would probably be facing redundancy, but the company has said it would help to relocate employees to other Premier Foods sites in the area.

One anxious worker, who didn’t want to be named, said: "We just don't know what the future holds - it's really worrying.

"Most of us will probably get redundancy, although we don't know what sort of package we will be offered, but most of us will be out of a job. It's a really sad situation."

A spokesman for RHM Frozen Foods said: "This proposal is very much regretted, not least because of the potential impact on our employees.

"However, we do not believe there is any alternative as the adverse trading conditions we are currently facing are set to continue."