THE last UK maker of household refrigeration appliances has gone into liquidation with the loss of 70 jobs in the north of Scotland.

A leading economist believes it was almost inevitable Icetech Freezers in Castleton, Caithness, would go under with its remote location, the loss of Comet, its main outlet and cheaper imports from India and the Far East.

Liquidators are seeking a buyer, but the prospects are not good.

The company was formerly known as Norfrost, which was established in 1972 and earned its founders Pat and Alex Grant a near-iconic status in the commercial landscape of the Highlands, employing nearly 400 people.

Mr Grant had a small electrical shop in Castletown, but between them the couple had anticipated increasing demand for small household freezers. They went on to win contracts from Coca-Cola and Mars, and were producing 12,500 chest freezers a week.

However, the spiralling cost of fuel and raw materials, heralded a crisis. In 2005, Norfrost went into administration when it was bought out by John G Russell, the Lanarkshire logistics group, and renamed Icetech.

Despite running up trading losses of £700,000 in the year to March 2009 and £1.7 million in the preceding year, it returned to profit briefly in 2011, albeit only £5000.

However, in January this year the Russell group revealed Icetech's losses had more than doubled to £100,000.

Economist Tony Mackay, of Inverness-based Mackay Consultants said yesterday he was not surprised Icetech had gone under. "It is very disappointing but I think it was inevitable,' he said.

"It goes back a long time, but it always seemed very strange to me because what you were doing was transporting all the parts required to assemble these freezers, all the way up to Caithness. You assembled the freezers, then you had to transport them all the way back down. But for 20 years they managed to make a success of it and were big employers."

However, he thought that once China and India in particular began competing with much lower labour costs, the writing was on the wall.

Caithness, Sutherland and Ross SNP MSP Rob Gibson said: "I have contacted both the Enterprise Minister and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to see what help can be offered."