DOZENS of jobs are set to disappear from the Wee County as plans were put forth to scrap a distribution centre near Tullibody.

Owners of Belhaven last week told workers about the closure of their Dumyat Business Park depot with 65 local jobs to be axed, despite investment into the nationwide distribution hub just two years ago.

All employees are being offered jobs with the third-party company that will take the distribution duties on at “various sites” across Scotland. One is understood to be Livingston, some 25 miles away.

Keith Brown MSP will this week sit down with Belhaven owners Greene King, which recently claimed the drinks brand and Dunbar-based brewery are “a great Scottish success story”.

In fact, company chiefs say business has been going so well, the local centre no longer has the capacity to work effectively.

Therefore, they are looking to partner up with “world-renowned” Kuehne + Nagel in order to achieve “continued long term growth”.

MP Luke Graham also hopes to make representations with the firm in the near future,

The Conservative representative said: “In the meantime, I will be alerting the DWP and asking the Alloa Job Centre to take a pro-active approach to any individuals who do not take up roles elsewhere in Greene King.

“This decision is incredibly disappointing, I will do everything I can to support the individuals who have been impacted.”

Mr Brown, SNP representative at Holyrood, has made the Scottish Government aware and said: “Less than two years ago, Belhaven lauded Alloa as the ideal location to base their distribution operations so it is extremely disappointing to hear that they now plan to close the distribution centre near Tullibody.

“The loss of 65 jobs to the local economy is very worrying and although employees have the option to transfer to Livingston, should they wish, this might just not be an option for some people.”

David Carr, brewing and brands head of operations at Greene King, defended the move and insisted employees will be offered roles with K+N.

He said: “Belhaven is a great Scottish success story with a rich heritage over three centuries.

“Having successfully grown the business in recent years we are now in a position where we will not have the capacity to distribute to our customers effectively for continued long term growth.

“Therefore, we are proposing to partner with world-renowned third party drinks distributor, K+N, to deliver our Belhaven drinks business to our customers.

“We are pleased that all roles affected will transfer to K+N into various sites across their Scottish network.

“We are absolutely committed to our Scottish business and are looking forward to making plans to celebrate our Belhaven brewery’s 300th anniversary next year.”