SCORES of workers at a ceramics firm are to be made redundant after the company decided to move its production south of the border.

Dunoon Ceramics is to lay off 42 members of staff and end production by Easter in a move it has blamed on a growing influx of copies of its designs from the Far East.

The company was established in Dunoon in 1973 but its headquarters is now based in Staffordshire. The firm, which produces fine china mugs and stoneware, says it has spent increasing amounts of money pursuing legal action to force manufacturers to destroy illicit copies of its goods that are being sold in Europe.

Alan Smith, production director, said a small number of staff had been offered relocation to Stone in Staffordshire, but, as the consultation into the closure of the Dunoon factory had ended only yesterday, he did not yet know how many had decided to move south.

He said: "So far, we have served notices to 42 members of our staff. There are a few people left at the factory but we anticipate the business will be closed down before Easter.

"Offers have been made to a small number of employees affected by the closure of the Dunoon plant to transfer to Stone, but it is not going to be an exodus. We have had a small number of people down on a trial basis and it went very well.

"It has been a very difficult decision to close the factory and it is with regret that Dunoon Ceramics will be leaving the area. Unfortunately, there are manufacturers operating in places like India, China, and Korea who have been eating into our trade and appointing solicitors in foreign countries is very costly."

A wave of fake versions of the company's Funky Farm designs caused it to withdraw the products. Rogue copies of its Zodiac design are being sold in large quantities in eastern Europe.

The company's retail outlet in Dunoon will be unaffected.