THE closure of an award-winning creamery has dealt a hammer blow to the Denbighshire economy, leaving 97 people from across the region out of work.

Arla Creamery, in Llandyrnog, one of Britain’s oldest Cheddar makers, employs 97 people from across Denbighshire.

Salaries there average £30,000 and will result in a near £3 million loss to the local economy.

The creamery, established in the 1920s, has won a number of awards for its Welsh cheddar, which has been finely tuned over a number of years.

Arla Foods, the largest dairy producer in Scandinavia, is taking action as it aims to save nearly £350 million by 2020.

These include shutting down smaller packing operations in Malpas, Cheshire and Lockerbie in Scotland.

Altogether it will shed 154 jobs around the UK and a further 195 across Europe.

Chris Ruane, MP for the Vale of Clywd, visited the creamery yesterday and said he understood that a 'skeleton crew' of five people will be put in place for maintenance and security.

But he added: “This has blown a hole in the economy of the Vale of Clwyd.

“I will be working with Anne Jones, AM for the Vale of Clwyd, Hugh Evans, chief executive for Denbighshire, and Ken Skates, AM for South Clwyd, to establish a task-force to find a medium to long future for the dairy."

Tomas Pietrangeli, managing director for Arla Foods UK, said: “The proposal to stop production at Llandyrnog, I hope, will be temporary, as we continue to explore other potential production opportunities for the site, but it is too early to make any longer-term commitments.

“We know this proposal will be hard to hear for the award-winning Llandyrnog team.

"However, it enables us to not only drive efficiencies but also retain ample capacity to meet the needs of our customers, whilst helping to improve returns to our farmer owners through a higher milk price.

“We recognise that this will be a difficult time for all our colleagues and our priority right now is to support them to manage this situation as best we can.

"We will now be entering full consultation with all our colleagues affected and their trade union or colleague representatives.”

Arla Foods said in a further statement on its website that under the proposals, current cheddar cheese volumes [in Llandyrnog] would move to its Taw Valley and Lockerbie creameries.

Arla Foods, which owns the Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor brands, took over the Llandyrnog creamery in a merger acquisition in 2012.

Mr Ruane remains hopeful that the dairy has a future, however.

He said: “It is possible that a different type of dairy could be produced at the site in future.

"The Vale of Clwyd is prime agricultural land for dairy and we need to preserve the milk process here.

“There is hope and we will make sure that those losing their jobs will be supported.”