IT is now 20 years since the closure of one of Warrington’s best known companies.

Memory Lane Cakes had been a fixture in Whitecross for decades.

So it was a bitter blow to the 500 staff at the 70-year-old Delamere Street factory in 2000 when company bosses said a downturn in sales was forcing its closure and operations were to be transferred to the firm’s Cardiff plant.

The moves followed a much-publicised battle for survival which saw crisis talks between the company, borough council and the wider business community.

The factory, formerly the Bennett’s Bakery, was one of the town’s oldest firms and had been central to the Whitecross area for decades, with generations of families being employed there.

The former factory, off Lovely Lane, is now home to a large housing development.

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