A Northern Ireland clothing manufacturer, which is a major supplier to Marks & Spencer, has announced that it is cutting its workforce by nearly 150 because of a downturn in retail sales.

Desmond and Sons, which employs 3,400 people at 12 sites across the North, is making 45 workers compulsorily redundant and a further 100 have opted to take voluntary redundancy.

Last month Desmond's announced - three days after M&S revealed half-year profits had slumped by nearly 50 per cent - that it would have to cut its workforce by 225.

But it said today that after consultation with the trade unions the cuts were to be less severe with 40 workers being re-deployed and another 40 retained.