NEARLY 400 jobs in Northern Ireland are in danger of being lost after British textiles group Coats Viyella announced that it was to stop shirt production at its Co Derry plant. The company said that by the end of the year all its shirts would be imported.

Some 380 people are currently employed by the company at its Maydown factory specialising in the production of Peter England and Van Heusen shirts for the UK and European markets. A company spokesman said that recent official statistics indicated that more than 80% of all shirt sales in the UK now came from overseas sources.

Despite long term efforts to reduce operating costs across the whole division it was "now essential to move to a totally imported basis in order to maintain price competitiveness in the retail market". The Coats Viyella Group was exploring alternative uses for the Maydown plant in a bid to maximise continued employment.

An option was to transfer part of the production capacity to the home furnishing division. Talks have also been held with other clothing manufacturers in Northern Ireland with a view to using some of the Maydown capacity.