MORE than 70 workers were made redundant yesterday at the threatened Sweater Shop factory in Cumnock, Ayrshire, writes Craig Watson. However, the plant should remain open for at least a further three weeks, it was claimed.

Mr John Steele, district secretary of the knitwear union KFAT, said the 73 production workers affected were angry at their treatment. However, there was hope that a buyer could be found for the company.

Up to 1300 Sweater Shop employees throughout the UK could be at risk of losing their jobs after the company went into receivership earlier this week.

Mr Steele said many of those hit by the job cuts were due pay of up to #200. They were forced to apply for emergency social security payments after being ''left with absolutely nothing''.

However, the factory has been given a stay of execution and should remain open for at least three weeks to fulfil existing orders, it was claimed. A total of 105 staff have been kept on to carry out the work.

Mr Steele said: ''Those who lost their jobs are extremely angry at the way they have been treated, but on the other hand there is some hope but no guarantees for the future of the plant.''

He said the receiver appeared to be hopeful that the plant could be retained as a going concern. There appeared to have been up to four expressions of interest in the site. It was hoped that the company could be sold as a single unit, with Cumnock the main UK manufacturing site.

The union, which represents about half the workforce, would meet STUC leaders next week to discuss the current crisis in the textile industry.

Labour MP George Foulkes met the receiver, company managers, union leaders and workers yesterday. He had feared that the factory would be closed by Monday, but now detected a ''glimmer of hope''.

The Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley MP, who intervened to help redundant workers claim crisis loans, added that even those workers could be re-employed if a suitable buyer was found.

He said unemployment in the area was higher, at 19%, than in any other part of the country, and called on the public to support the troubled company through a ''Buy British'' campaign.

Meanwhile, Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar yesterday defended the Government's economic policies in the face of SNP accusations that it was ''creating havoc'' in the Scottish economy.

Mr Dewar argued that the strong pound, blamed for encouraging cheap imports and reducing the exportability of Scottish products, was a necessary evil for long-term economic success.

He said: ''Textiles are a very difficult market and there is no easy short cut.''