A MELTHAM mill is to close with the loss of 43 textile jobs.

Woollen yarn spinner R Butterworth and Son Ltd has ceased manufacturing and is near to completing the sale of its Albion Mills premises.

The building, on Mill Moor Road, has been earmarked to be turned into flats.

A few staff are still working to clear orders.

Managing director Jonathan Butterworth said the family-owned firm could no longer compete with low-cost imports.

"We have suffered the erosion of our market by customers sourcing from outside this country," he said. "We did a lot of work for the UK knitting industry, which was our traditional market, but that has declined over the past 10 or 15 years."

Mr Butterworth said the developer - who has not yet been named - would submit plans for the mill following the sale.

The scheme was likely to involve a mixed development of apartments and some new building.

It would secure the future of the mill building and help meet the demand for housing.

Mr Butterworth said converting the mill to flats would meet Government requirements for developers to build on former industrial sites rather than on green fields.

"Meltham is a developing town," he said. "The mill is a substantial structure, but it is not particularly attractive to modern industry.

"There are other similar developments in the area.

"This kind of development provides a use for old buildings which could otherwise be left to become an eyesore."

The main mill building at Albion Mills dates back to 1864. The site also includes offices and warehouses.

R Butterworth and Son Ltd has operated from the site since 1946.

Over the years, it has supplied weavers and knitters making upholstery fabrics, suits and jackets and knitwear.

The move to convert Albion Mills is one of the latest in a string of schemes to turn local mills into housing.

Last week, Kirklees Council gave the green light for a development of 65 houses and flats at Wildspur Mills, New Mill, following the closure of textile firm Copley Marshall.

Among other schemes, planning permission has also been granted for 20 new homes at Upper Sunnybank Mills, Meltham.

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