AN engineering firm founded by the inventor of free-wheel bicycles and the hand-held fire extinguisher is set to close next month after 129 years.
About 25 jobs will go when Haslam's sheet metal works closes on August 31. A letter has been passed to workers at the family-owned plant on Romer Street, Bolton, informing them of the decision.
Workers say the firm had struggled to make a profit and had large overheads.
Director Andrew Robinson was believed to have been trying to find a buyer but with no success due to the lack of interest in the engineering industry.
The company was established in 1873 by James Haslam. He served an apprenticeship at Stotts Tinplate Works at Astley Bridge before founding his own business in Bury Road.
In 1887, he invented the chemical hand-held fire extinguisher. Visits to France and Russia followed and the "fire engine" was demonstrated to the French president and the Tsar.
In later years, the firm made items for the textile industry and mudguards, bonnets and silencers for the Leyland Motor Company.
Mr Robinson refused to comment on the closure yesterday.
A worker, however, said: "It's been a lovely firm to work for so the news has come as a bit of a shock.
"Unfortunately, the engineering industry is going down the drain in Britain."
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