A CHESHIRE paper plant has laid off more than 100 workers after going into administration.

Tom Jack, Roy Bailey and Alan Bloom, from Ernst & Young, were last night appointed joint administrators to Bridgewater Paper Company (BPCL), in Ellesmere Port, at the request of the company’s directors. The plant employs 300 people and produces 220,000 tonnes of paper per year.

Mr Jack said: “We are continuing to trade the business as we explore all options, which include looking for a buyer for the business as a going concern.”

A spokeswoman for Ernst & Young said there had been no redundancies, but 108 staff had been “temporarily laid off”.

Canadian parent company AbitibiBowater said: “The BPCL board made this decision only after all options to keep these UK operations solvent were exhausted.”

AbitibiBowater’s president and chief executive officer, David J Paterson, said: “We recognise the impact the filing has on our UK employees and business partners; however, these actions were necessary and represent the best course of action going forward.

“Throughout the BPCL administration filing, AbitibiBowater will help ensure European customers continue to receive quality products and service, free of business interruptions.

“We remain committed to building on our many decades of sales.”

BPCL subsidiaries Cheshire Recycling and Abitibi-Consolidated Europe are not affected by this administration.