A UK manufacturer of snack bars has confirmed it has made a number of redundancies at its Newport base.

Halo Foods, which has a site at Queensway Meadows Industrial Estate, has told the South Wales Argus that 32 roles were lost today.

The company said that redundancies took place in order to "reduce high operating costs at our Newport site".

A Halo Foods spokesperson said: “We can confirm that, following a detailed consultation with relevant employees, we have reluctantly taken the very difficult decision to reduce the number of roles within our manufacturing packing area teams. We’ve worked hard throughout the consultation period to minimise potential job losses, but unfortunately we can today confirm that 32 roles are being made redundant.

“We fully recognise how hard this decision is on affected employees and we are working closely with everyone concerned to assist them in finding alternative work.

"It’s really important to remember that we employ a further 279 employees – including 227 in Newport. This decision is about safeguarding their jobs and ensuring we have the right structure in place to support our continued health and growth as a business operating in an extremely challenging market place.

"We have a long term commitment to Newport and our intention is to build a business that can continue to positively contribute to Newport’s economy and its people."