The "effective closure" of the BiFab yards in Fife and Lewis is a "dark day"’ for the Scottish economy, say unions.

GMB Scotland said that redundancies at the marine engineering specialist were confirmed on Thursday morning.

Just seven staff have been offered part-time positions to oversee the maintenance and security of the yards and assets in Arnish, Burntisland, Methil.

At its peak, it had a core workforce of 400 and a further 1,000 contractors.

Twelve senior managers from the original BiFab business will be fully retained by the new owners DF Barnes, a subsidiary of Canada’s JV Driver.

It had acquired the company in a deal many hoped would secure the future of its workforces after it hit financial problems late last year.

GMB Scotland organiser Alan Ritchie: said: "We were promised a bright future by the new owners but the cold, hard truth is that these yards are now closed until new orders can be secured.

"There is also anger and resentment that some of the people responsible for the demise of BiFab have had their futures secured, while the workers who made the sacrifices to complete the Beatrice order have been steadily shown the door.

"Jam tomorrow is of no use to our members and their families.

"This is a dark day for Fife and Lewis, and for the Scottish economy. Whether there is any light in the weeks and months to come remains to be seen."

Scottish Greens’ finance and economy spokesperson, Patrick Harvie MSP said: "The effective closure of the BiFab yards in Fife and Lewis is terrible news, especially for the workers there. It’s not in the renewable industry’s interests for BiFab to go down, so any last action that can be taken to secure jobs must be considered and Greens are ready to work with the government and other parties in achieving this.”

Unite Scottish secretary, Pat Rafferty said: “Unite is disappointed that despite the fanfare last year following the takeover of BiFab by Canadian engineering firm DF Barnes that the decision to effectively close the yard has been taken.

“We all knew the future of the yards depended heavily on orders coming in and the failure to secure contracts would make the future difficult."

Scottish Greens’ finance and economy spokesperson, Patrick Harvie MSP said: "The effective closure of the BiFab yards in Fife and Lewis is terrible news, especially for the workers there.

"It’s not in the renewable industry’s interests for BiFab to go down, so any last action that can be taken to secure jobs must be considered and Greens are ready to work with the government and other parties in achieving this.”

Jason Fudge, the chief executive of DF Barnes said the company was “working tirelessly to secure new contracts”.

He added: “That is what is needed for the employees and that is our focus.”