Michelin, the French tyre group, has confirmed plans to close its factory in Ballymena by 2018 with the loss of 860 jobs.

Michelin Tyre said on tuesday it was restructuring its European operations as a result of the downturn in demand for truck tyres in Europe.

The group said that since 2007 tyre sales have slumped by more than five million.

Davy Thompson, Unite regional coordinating Officer expressed his union’s deep regret over the announcement.

“This announcement is a cruel blow to the workforce in the mouth of Christmas and is devastating news for the northeast economy and that of Northern Ireland as a whole.

Michelin plans to “run-down” its Ballymena plant over the next three years while at the same time investing and increasing production at its Dundee factory and modernising the logistics and warehousing infrastructure at its Stoke-on-Trent facility.

The French group said it intends to “reduce overcapacity and to concentrate Michelin truck tyre production in larger, more competitive sites”.

In a statement earlier the group said: “Despite great efforts and progress being made in previous years, other European plants are still more competitive than Ballymena.

“The tyre building machines at Ballymena are not capable of making the high tech tyres of the future, and the amount of investment required to upgrade the plant is prohibitive, particularly at a time when that capacity is not required.”

“Unite has repeatedly demanded action from ministers in relation to the high energy costs, the protracted difficulties experienced by Michelin in obtaining a connection for a proposed combined-heat power plant and the pressing need for capital support to modernise the plant,” Mr Thompson said.

“Ministerial inaction has resulted in a situation where high energy costs have left the Ballymena plant having the second lowest operating efficiency and now facing closure,” hesaid.