Administrators made 190 staff at the Barnsley plant redundant immediately, and expect the factory, which produces film packaging for cigarettes and confectionary, to close its doors during January when current work is finished.

The beginning of the closure came after administrators were called in on 23 November.

Ian Stokoe, of administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers, declined to reveal the extent of the company's losses in 2004.

He said that his team decided to close the 32m-turnover firm after three major clients pulled their contracts following the move into administration.

"It became clear that we were not going to find a buyer, and although there is never a good time to close a factory this must be the worst possible time for the employees," said Stokoe.

All staff received wages for December, and will then have to apply for statutory redundancy of 3,500.

PPF is a division of Parkside International, which also runs flexible packaging plants in Normanton, near Leeds, and in Poland.

Story by Josh Brooks