SALT mine workers in Winsford have been told that their jobs are secure following the £840 million sale of their firm's parent company to an American chemical giant.

Salt Union Ltd - which employs 200 people at its plants in Winsford and Runcorn - is owned by the Harris Chemical Group, which has been bought by Chicago-based IMC Global.

IMC is worth £4 billion and employs 10,000 people worldwide, while Harris is roughly one-quarter of that size.

The US company has told staff at both sites that their jobs are safe, and the takeover has been greeted with "cautious optimism" by trade unions.

The Winsford rock salt mine dates back to 1844 and as well as being the only dedicated rock salt mine in the UK, it is also the oldest mine of any sort currently being worked.

Salt Union Ltd is the UK's largest salt producer and was bought by the Harris Chemical Group from ICI in 1992.

More than two million tonnes of rock salt are produced each year at the Winsford mine, for use in de-icing roads. At current extraction rates, the mine has more than 75 years of identifiable reserves.

David Goadby, Salt Union Ltd's managing director, said that the takeover deal would secure the company's long-term future.

He added that IMC Global, one of the world's leading phosphate and potash producers, was aiming to expand into the salt industry.

Union officials said that they had met IMC before the sale and that protection for jobs had been built into the deal.

A GMB spokesman said: "We are planning to have further meetings with the company.

"Hopefully, the takeover will be a positive move which will benefit Salt Union Ltd and its employees. We are cautiously optimistic."

He added that in the long-term, the takeover may even lead to more jobs being created at the Winsford mine.

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