WORKERS at Gwent's Carpets Internation-al factory yesterday told of their shock, after learning the company was in receivership.

As the Argus revealed yesterday, 300 jobs are threatened at Crumlin, and a further 900 across six UK sites.

Official receivers PricewaterhouseCoopers who hope to find a trade buyer for the £100 million turnover business, are blaming the downturn in demands for traditional floorings such as carpets.

As he came off shift yesterday, production worker Mike Knott said: "This has come out of the blue and we are all worried about whether we will lose our jobs."

Colleague, Keith Taylor, said: "We are a good workforce but we're not sure if our jobs will be saved."

And Susan Parnell, who has worked at the factory for 19 years, added: "Nobody knows anything. We are very worried because some of us have been here for a long time."

Pricewaterhouse Coopers' Stuart Madison said: "If you can catch the decline of a business early enough you can do something about it. "We will be advertising the company for sale in the financial press next Tuesday.

"We have spoken to suppliers and customers and all would like to see the business saved, this has come as a shock to everyone."

Mr Madison said the most likely source of a bid would be one of the giant Belgian or German carpet makers, which have undermined UK carpet making with cheap imports.

He added the EU's statutory 90-day notice period did not mean a lot when a company was in receivership.

"If the notice period isn't served the workers have an action against the company, but if the company is in receivership they simply join a list of other creditors."

Transport & General Union branch secretary, Lawrence Long, said: "This company has a cash-flow crisis, we believe it has lost £3.7 million in the last seven months.

"We suspect redundancies are in the pipeline." The company was rated in the top 100 of Gwent's employers in 2000. Islwyn MP and Under Secretary of State for Wales, Don Touhig, said: "Having visited the factory many times I know the excellent job that the workers do - this is no fault of theirs.

"I will do all I can to help." Islwyn AM Irene James added: "We want to offer our support." Crumlin councillor Keith Lloyd said it was another sad blow. "Every time things seem to be looking up and we create jobs on the Oakdale site, we lose jobs on the Pen-y-Fan Industrial Estate."