BOSSES at a local plastics factory have confirmed that staff are being laid off.

Last year Berry BPI turned its Port Glasgow Road base into a personal protective equipment-making plant to produce disposable aprons for NHS workers.

In May the Tele revealed how a recruitment drive had been launched to take on between 25 and 100 more employees to cope with the workload brought by the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Company chiefs invested in equipment and technology and installed specialist machines to help churn out more than one million aprons every week.

But now temporary workers are being laid off.

The Telegraph was told staff were being released as orders were 'drying up'.

It is not know how many temporary workers will be affected.

Alan Graham, the company's UK divisional director, confirmed the news.

Mr Graham told the Telegraph: “The nature of the product we supply to NHS England has changed and we have invested in new equipment to accommodate the change.

"This unfortunately will affect some of our temporary staff.

"We have contracts with both the Scottish and English NHS for ongoing supply of PPE.”

Last year the firm said it planned to produce around 5.5 million aprons, made from low-density polyethylene, in Greenock every month.

The Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, NHS Scotland and the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland helped establish the supply chain for the project.

Berry bpi - which is part of Berry Global - manufactures polythene films and currently produces the majority of clinical waste sacks used in UK hospitals.