RESIDENTS of a town in Monmouthshire which recently found out a major employer would be closing down - with the loss of 400 jobs - remain defiant, if anxious about the closure.

Avara Foods announced earlier this month that proposals had been submitted to shut the Abergavenny factory in autumn of this year.

This would impact all of the 400 employees working at the site.

Avara said the decision had been a "difficult" one, which had "not been taken lightly and in no way reflects on the hard-working colleagues".

The Welsh government described the closure as "a major blow" for both workers and the wider community of Abergavenny.

Despite the defiant front many residents of the town have adopted, many are saying that, while things can always be worse, it was not an ecouraging sign to see such a large employer close down.

Sandra Lucas said: "I worry about the town.

"We’re not in as bad a place as Abertilley and that area after their closure the other week, but it’s a lot of jobs to go.

"Where are those poor people going to go?"

Asked what she thought the reasons behind the closure could be, she said: "I know you’re not supposed to say about it, but I think it must have been something to do with Brexit.

"There have been loads of these sorts of things since Brexit.

"Everything seems harder."

A visitor to Abergavenny over the weekend, Martin Camp, was less sympathetic to the plight of the Avara staff.

"Unfortunately that’s what happens sometimes," he said.

"Places close and then new places open.

"Of course it’s sad for the people at Avara, but they’ll be ok. There are always new places to work."

Brexit to blame for Avara Foods closure?

Asked if he thought Brexit might have had something to do with the closure, Mr Camp said: “I don’t think so.

“It’s easy to blame things like this on Brexit, but you can’t just lump anything bad into the Brexit pile.

“There have been just as many positives after we voted to leave.”

However, asked for an example, he said he “couldn’t think of one off the top of my head right now”.

Another resident, Ashley Jacob, said - when asked about Brexit's impact: “Maybe, but I think there is probably more to it than that.

“This government in London would probably have us at this point without Brexit too.

“They’re trying their best to grind us down, but we’ll survive.”

Ms Jacob said life in general "seems to just be people losing their jobs, people striking for better working conditions, people saying how hard it is just to survive".

"Is anyone doing well at the moment?" she asked.

"Why is it like this?"

She said she hopes “all the people from Avara get new jobs soon, both for them and for the town”.