Administrators at Aylesford Newsprint have confirmed that 233 employees have been made redundant with immediate effect.

That means 65 staff will be retained to assist administrators KPMG with the sale of assets and the decommissioning of the plant.

The production facility has now closed.

Allan Graham from KPMG, said: “Significant overcapacity in the newsprint market, coupled with rise of digital media, has created challenging operating conditions for Aylesford Newsprint.

"The business has been loss-making for a number of years and was unable to be maintained as a going concern.

“We are on site and will be working closely with the Redundancy Payments Office to support the staff impacted by the administration.”

Tracey Crouch, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, says she has arranged for the Maidstone Job Centre to be on site on Thursday afternoon to help and support those affected by the announcement.

Help will be on hand from 2pm.

Unite, the country’s largest union which has 150 members at the firm, is now seeking legal advice.

Unite regional officer Tim Elliott said: “I am absolutely disgusted by the brutal and heartless actions of the administrators who have apparently made no effort at all to explore options to keep this company going in some form.

“Unite won’t roll over when it comes to defending its members and we will be seeking legal advice following this harsh action delivered in honeyed words by the administrators.

“We want a proper consultation period involving serious negotiations to save as many jobs as possible. The closure of this plant will be a massive blow to the Kentish economy as it is one of the biggest employers in the area.”