INTENSE pay negotiations at Airsprung are nearing a conclusion, according to union representatives. GMB representative Kevin Brandstatter met with bosses on Friday to thrash out a new deal for the company's workforce.

Mr Brandstatter said negotiations had been made more difficult because the company was battling to work though a lean spell.

"These negotiations are set against the background of a company with not much money to throw around," he said.

"We have almost got to the stage where a deal will be put to our members.

"We expect to do that by the end of March."

The GMB representative said it would have been unwise to raise issues over the wood mill and working practices while pay negotiations were ongoing.

Up to 60 employees in the wood mill fear their jobs are at risk as work is increasingly shifted to the continent.

Finished products are now being shipped in from Poland and Lithuania at the same cost the furniture firm could purchase raw materials in the UK.

Last week Airsprung chief executive Tony Lisanti said the mill workforce had been slowly reduced over the past six months.