A world-leading engineering company is set to close by the end of the month as orders for its food process spirals and conveyor systems dry up.

Triphase Ltd, based at Crossflatts, made around 30 of its workforce redundant late last week, leaving less than 20 to complete its last remaining orders.

Managing director Sandy Grieve said: "We're running out of road. Unless we hear some good news this week I don't think we will see the end of the month."

A year ago Triphase employed 100 people, but over a few months the workforce was reduced to 50 in anticipation of dwindling orders. But the downturn has been more severe than expected.

Mr Grieve said: "We had expected a downturn in business due to the strength of the euro and the pound against the dollar.

"We did about 30 per cent of our business in Europe and 50 per cent of our UK business with bakeries. But bakeries are under increasing pressure from supermarkets and one of our major US customers has been taken over, so things have been much worse than we anticipated.

"We had a financial backer to underwrite development costs. He has been a fantastic supporter, but he is reluctant to continue under the present circumstances.

"If we could have got a couple of good orders we might have had some new money coming in, which would have put a different slant on things.

"We need some quick orders to demonstrate that we can do the job, but food manufacturers are under desperate pressure from the supermarkets and are not making the usual capital outlay."

Mr Grieve continued: "We are making world-leading large spiral systems for the food industry, and our designers and fabricators are the best in the world.

"We have top quality workers, in terms of skills and integrity, and I am desperately disappointed that it has not worked out for them.

"We have done everything we possibly could. It is awful getting rid of people who have put in tremendous effort and produced such high quality work.

"The only consolation is that they are so highly skilled I am sure they will soon find other jobs."

Triphase has had a checkered history since it was formed as Spooner Lewis, part of the Ilkley-based Spooner Food Industries Group. It was later sold to Sandvik and then to world market leader Frigo Scandier.

It was closed down and then resurrected by a small technical and sales team, but again went out of business until a group of local investors re-launched it as Triphase in Keighley 13 years ago. For the last seven years the company has been based at Crossflatts.