DANISH dairy group Arla Foods is set to 'dispose' of its Llandyrnog site.

The business' mothballing (reducing to a skeleton staff, in order to preserve the site for later use or sale) in 2018 saw 97 people lose their jobs.

This week, following much uncertainty surrounding its future, Arla Foods UK managing director Ash Amirahmadi confirmed that they are preparing to dispose of the site.

In a letter to Plaid Cymru MS for North Wales, Llyr Gruffydd, shown to the Denbighshire Free Press, Mr Amirahmadi says the 'right course of action' is to prepare to 'dispose' of the site so that it can be 'freed up for alternative uses'.

The letter added: "We took the decision two years ago to mothball the facility following a strategic re-evaluation of our cheese operations. Since then we have kept the situation under constant review before making any decisions about the future of the site.

"We have now decided that the right course of action is to start to prepare to dispose of the site. The way that our business has developed since 2018 means that this is the correct decision for Arla Foods and our farmer owners.

"As you know, the site has been operating with a skeleton staff since 2018 so this change will in fact lead to only one colleague leaving the business; in-stead, we hope that the site will be freed up for alternative uses, which in turn should create many new jobs and opportunities locally. We will shortly be asking for professional support to take us through the sales process."

Responding to the news, Plaid Cymru MS for North Wales Llyr Gruffydd said: "This is very disappointing news. I met company representatives when the mothballing announcement was made and they claimed they would re-assess the situation once Brexit was done. That move, they said, would enable them to increase domestic processing capacity if there were restrictions or tariffs on imports from the EU.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that the need to have local processing capacity is more important than ever.

"That's why I'm calling on the Welsh Government to support any moves to re-open the site under new ownership. That would be an important step to increase Welsh processing capacity, add value to the product, reduce food miles and the food chain as well as creating jobs in the Vale of Clwyd."