THE Ballywalter, Co Down, company, Copeland Clothing, is to close with the loss of more than 200 jobs.

A spokesman said that Copeland had cut prices to match those of importing customers but that this had not prevented more and more buyers from placing business with overseas manufacturers.

Copeland was taken over by Albion plc in 1986 when its previous owners, British Van Heusen, said that it intended to close the plant. The factory was extended four years later, and the workforce grew to 250.

But a decline in suit orders forced the company to concentrate more on the less profitable business of making jackets, and increasing competition from imported goods, particularly those made in the Far East, finally led to the decision to close the firm.

The failure of the Ballywalter firm followed last week's announcement that 115 workers at the NIEX Leisure factory in Carrickfergus would lose their jobs if a buyer was not found within the next three months.