A CHEMICAL company is to axe more than a third of its workforce.

In a shock move Mitchell Cotts Chemicals, of Mirfield, said it was shedding up to 25 staff out of its 70 employees.

In a statement, the company said the jobs would go with the closure of its agrochemical business.

Staff were told the news in a meeting yesterday afternoon.

A 30-day consultation period with employees is under way.

The company said the closure was due to the loss of business from a major customer.

The statement added: "It is expected that production in the affected part of the site will close in the first quarter of 2006."

Mitchell Cotts will continue to produce pharmaceuticals, including ingredients used in eyedrops to treat people with glaucoma.

Mitchell Cotts, part of the giant US-based Dow Chemicals group, has operated from its Steanard Lane site since 1976, although chemicals have been made there since the 1950s.

The plant also makes chemicals used in shampoos and treatments for skin conditions.

Dow Chemicals is part of the multi-billion-pound Dow Group, which has 43,000 employees serving customers in 175 countries.

It operates in sectors including food processing, transport, health and medicine and construction.

Its chemical operations include plants making solvents, agrochemicals, flavours, fragrances and petrochemicals.