SEVENTEEN-hundred workers at Bromsgrove's GKN Garringtons factory were sent home as the forge closed down indefinitely. The shock move came after the town's biggest employers failed to curb damaging industrial action over a national union pay claim. Workers had only been told about the decision two days before. A spokesman for the firm said the closure was a direct result of the overtime ban and three-day week imposed by the unions. Feelings were mixed as the workers clocked off. Some blamed the unions for their plight while others blamed the management. Most were annoyed at the short notice they had been given. One skilled fitter said: "Some of us expected it to happen sooner or later anyway. There have been rumours since the end of August."

THE Messenger warned the town's controversial Eastern by-pass might not get underway for another eight years, if government spending continued to fall. A report, which was published by the British Road Federation, said spending on roads had fallen by 30 per cent since 1973 but the Bromsgrove by-pass had been made a priority.