A PROPOSAL by 2 Sisters Food Group to move a retail packing department from its St Merryn premises in Merthyr Tydfil to Cornwall would be a major blow to Wales, the Farmers’ Union of Wales has said.

It is understood that around 350 affected staff have been written to regarding the proposal, and are currently in a 45-day consultation period.

FUW’s finance and organisation committee South Wales representative Brian Bowen, who farms at Pencoedcae farm, Princetown, near the St Merryn site, said: “The plant employs around 1,000 people, so we are talking about the potential loss of around a third of the workforce.

“This would be a major blow for the local economy and for Wales’ agricultural supply chain as a whole.”

Mr Bowen said the news came at a time when there was already extreme uncertainty about the future due to the vote to leave the European Union.

“The agricultural supply chain employs scores of thousands of people in Wales’ rural and urban areas, and these proposals will come as a major blow to the families affected and the community as a whole, added Mr Bowen.”