SUPERMARKET giant Sainsbury's has delivered a hammer blow to nearly 600 Droitwich workers by withdrawing from the town.

The firm yesterday announced the end to its distribution deal with Christian Salvesen.

Unless Salvesen can negotiate another contract, the depot will close in the summer.

Sainsbury's decision to pull out of Droitwich comes two months after it announced the closure of its Warndon depot at Shire Park, due to take place in 2002.

Staff today told of their shock at learning their jobs were on the line.

"We had heard rumours, but it still came out of the blue, especially when they said it could close by the summer," said driver Jim Delaney, who has worked at the Berry Hill site for four years.

The 50-year-old, from Claines, added: "They're going to keep 50 per cent of the drivers for Shire Park, so there may be some work still. The redundancy package isn't very good because it's based on our basic wage and most of us make our money on our overtime."

Transport and General Workers' Union official Bob Shaw, who is negotiating the future of 180 drivers and clerical staff, criticised the lack of communication before yesterday's announcement.

"We had not been fully kept on board with what was going on, in view of what was going on at Shire Park and the rumours," he said.

"I'm very pessimistic about the job situation. We're in consultation to avert redundancies, but it does not look too good for Droitwich."

Salvesen admitted the future of the site looked bleak.

"In view of current market conditions, we recognise it would be difficult to attract appropriate alternative customers and the necessary volumes of business to keep the site operating commercially," it said in a statement.