PORK products firm Tulip UK`is shedding up to 90 jobs at its Dalehead Foods site in Linton on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border, it has emerged.The move is in addition to last week's announcement that around 70 jobs would be axed with the closure of the company's cooked bacon factory in Thetford.

PORK products firm Tulip UK`is shedding up to 90 jobs at its Dalehead Foods site in Linton on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border, it has emerged.

The move is in addition to last week's announcement that around 70 jobs would be axed with the closure of the company's cooked bacon factory in Thetford.

Dalehead Foods is one of three divisions of Tulip in the UK with operations in Linton, Bury St Edmunds, Corsham and Stradbroke and is one of the largest employers for the Haverhill area.

Tulip's decision to close the abattoir at the site will result in a cut of nearly a quarter of the workforce at the Cambridgeshire division. Management are currently in consultation with employees.

Managing director John Hughes described the news as “disappointing”.

“We have previously explored the possibility of building a new abattoir at Linton at a projected cost of �18 million,” he said. “However given the spare capacity at Tulip's modern abattoir in Spalding, acquired as part of its purchase of George Adams in December 2007, it no longer makes commercial sense to do so.

“Our priority now is to work with the employees in the affected areas of the business to do whatever we can to lessen the potential impact.”

He added that it was “business as usual” for other operations at the Linton site.

Tulip Ltd is the UK arm of Tulip International and the largest producer of pork products in the UK, currently operating 21 factories across the country, employing around 8,000 people.