HALL'S sits at the east end of Broxburn main street, and most of the workers make their way down the thoroughfare in waves to and from shifts.

Entire families have relied on Hall's for their income, shopkeepers had hoped to expand on the factory's expected success and the young workers of the area were told there would be opportunities for their future.

The central shopping precinct sits a few hundred yards along the main road, and the owner of Julie's Baby Gifts in Argyll Court said she was shocked at the news.

Julie Milburn said: "I had been looking to expand and maybe take on one or two more. We will lose a lot of their trade. That's who we rely on.

"They come in here on pay day regularly, a lot of them are young and have young families. Fingers crossed they can save it.

"There is also a lot of Polish people who are here to work there. If it closes, they will leave as well."

In the former mining heartland of West Lothian, the small community feels it has been failed by industry after industry. After coal came vehicle production, when truck and tractor manufacturer British Leyland brought 1800 job losses in 1986.

Then Silicon Glen – Motorola employed 3100 workers when it closed in 2001 and NEC made 1200 redundant when it left shortly after that.

Resident Agnes Shaw, 44, said: "I worked at Motorola and after that I couldn't get a job anywhere. Who wants a semi-skilled electronics worker now?"

Former Hall's worker Alan Anderson said: "There always seemed to be more workers than there needed to be. You'd be sitting doing nothing on some shifts."

Karolina Stanch, 34, from central Poland and her partner Derek Gibb, 32, both work there, and her son Kacpar is at school in the town.

She said: "We are still hoping for a miracle. We hope that someone can save it. Everyone is a hard worker."

West Lothian Council will also hold emergency talks during the authority's summer recess in a bid to save jobs.

Council leader John McGinty said: "I have taken urgent action to call a special meeting of the council executive as the potential loss of 1700 jobs at the Vion Hall's plant in Broxburn is a critical issue and the 90-day consultation period means that the clock is already ticking.

"The possible loss of these jobs is devastating for the people employed at Halls, their families and for West Lothian as a whole."