BRUNNER Mond has hit back at claims made by anti-incinerator protesters CHAIN that current redundancies at the company are just the start of things to come.

The soda ash producer has submitted plans to the Government to build an energy-from-waste plant which will burn pre-treated waste to generate power for its two sites at Lostock and Winnington.

The company said the move will help to save money and safeguard jobs but CHAIN alleged that if the plant gets the go ahead, the company would cease production and sell on the incinerator for a profit – and that the 25 job cuts announced last week were just the beginning.

John Kerrigan, managing director at Brunner Mond, dismissed the claims, stating the two were not linked in any way.

He said: “I was dismayed to read what I can only describe as scaremongering about the future of our business which will spread unnecessary anxiety about our employees’ job security. The allegations about the reasons for the current job losses were incorrect.

“The redundancies that we regrettably had to make at this time are part of an organisation-wide review.

“We were forced to take this action as a result of the recession and this has affected the number of people the business needs in Northwich.

“CHAIN is neither sufficiently informed nor qualified to add useful or sensible comment to this process.

“And what also needs to be emphasised is that the review is completely unrelated to our proposals for a sustainable energy plant at Lostock – any suggestion that makes such a connection is both irresponsible and wrong.

“The [energy plant] proposal will safeguard the future of Brunner Mond and its employees in the face of increasing global competition and higher energy prices. That is a fact.”

He added: “The accusation that we are planning to build an energy from waste plant only to close down our manufacturing operation is, to put it bluntly, absolute nonsense.

“Without Brunner Mond making soda ash in Northwich – with the requirement for steam – there is simply no valid reason to invest £300million in building this new energy plant.

“We have always accepted the democratic right of our neighbours to comment on our business plans but ill informed statements – that make no economic sense and are not based on any facts – serve only to sabotage truthful debate.

“We invited all our neighbours and interested parties to talk to us directly about their concerns at the time of our most recent public exhibitions, but CHAIN refused to attend.

“This suggests to me that they are less interested in the facts than spreading their own version of the truth, which does not add to a wider understanding of the real facts among local people.

“Brunner Mond has been an employer in Northwich for nearly 140 years.

“The thousands of jobs the company has created in that time – for several generations of local families – I believe speaks for itself.”