MPs have been told about the "shattering blow" to Norfolk caused by mass redundancies at the Del Monte factory in Methwold.

The Conservative MP for South West Norfolk Gillian Shephard secured a special debate to highlight the 316 redundancies in her constituency announced last month and the way they had been handled by the company.

Mrs Shephard believed Del Monte had kept employees in the dark and said workers had been "forbidden to speak to the media".

Mrs Shephard said the company blamed the job cuts on the loss of a Sainsbury's contract.

MP Gillian Shephard raised the job cuts in an adjournment debate

However the supermarket chain's chief executive had told her they had notified Del Monte of the loss of the contract on 2 October after a warning in the summer.

The first the employees knew was on 16 December.

In reply Trade Minister Nigel Griffiths said Del Monte had been slow to communicate with agencies which could have helped.

He said the company had fulfilled only the "absolute minimum duties" it had to inform the relevant agencies and the workforce - and the firm's behaviour was "a grave disappointment".

Special meeting

As of Tuesday there were only 30 staff left to go out of the 300 being made redundant.

He has asked Mrs Shephard to chair a special meeting involving the East of England Development Agency, local job centre and other agencies along with workers and management at Del Monte

The job cuts came six months after the plant was taken over from the troubled Fisher Foods group, which went into receivership in the summer.

The plant, which processes and packs chilled food and salads, now employs around 240 people.