Tom FitzPatrick, North Norfolk District Council's portfolio holder for business and economic development, told FoodManufacture.co.uk: “That this number of jobs has been lost is a concern because it is a significant sign of the manufacturing capabilities being lost in the North Norfolk area.

“The council hopes, and is doing everything it can, to keep the crab business going.”

FitzPatrick added the council was working with Young’s to minimise the impact of job losses.

In October Young’s Seafood pledged to keep its Cromer Crab brand in Cromer following a high-profile campaign backed by celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Alan Titchmarsh, and Olympic rower Matthew Pinsent.

'Keep it Cromer'

After a stakeholder meeting today (October 31) to discuss the future of the site, the firm accepted a petition from the 'Keep it Cromer' Campaign and announced that the much-loved brand would stay in the town.

Speaking after the meeting, Pete Ward, chief operating officer at Young's Seafood, said: “Working closely with a number of stakeholders, we are now looking at ways to keep Cromer crab branded items in Cromer and we will not move these lines to either Grimsby or Scotland.”

In September the firm entered into a 90-day consultation with workers to discuss new proposals that would see some of the firm’s processing moving from Cromer to larger-scale sites in Scotland and Grimsby.