MORE than 200 jobs are at risk at Cargill in Hereford after it lost a contract with one of the UK's biggest supermarkets.

In an announcement made today the chicken business said it had lost the contract to supply Asda with its breaded and battered products.

From June Cargill will cease to make these products at its poultry processing plant in Yazor Road, Hereford, putting 230 jobs at risk.

The company said there are job opportunities across its sites and every effort will be made to redeploy employees.

Mary Thompson, managing director of Cargill Meats Europe, said: “This is not an easy announcement to make.

"Every effort will be made to minimise the impact of this on our employees- they are our first priority here.

"I’d like to personally thank every employee for all their hard work and commitment to Cargill and producing such high quality fantastic products.”

Cargill has now entered a consultation period with employees and their union representatives.

No other Cargill operations are affected by this announcement and the company will continue to operate its UK poultry processing operations in Wolverhampton, Hereford and Newent.

A spokesman said in light of the announcement Cargill will further increase its focus on growing its primary fresh chicken business in line with its £35 million investment in fresh chicken over the past several years.