BY 'eck! -- Boddingtons bitter is to be brewed in East Lancashire.

Bosses are switching production to Samlesbury after announcing its famous Strangeways brewery in Manchester will close in February, 2005.

Interbrew, which owns Boddingtons, took over the Samlesbury brewery, which currently brews Stella Artois lager, when it bought Whitbread several years ago.

However, workers, union officials and politicians have launched a campaign to keep the Strangeways site open so that Boddingtons continues to be the 'Cream of Manchester', as its advertising slogan states.

Boddingtons has been brewed in Manchester since 1778 and is synonymous with the city.

Around 55 jobs are being lost at the Strangeways site, but bosses said today that no extra staff would need to be taken on at Samlesbury.

Interbrew bosses are hoping to transfer the production of cask ale Boddingtons to Manchester's Hydes Brewery.

But non-cask ale Boddingtons will be brewed in Samlesbury, South Wales and Glasgow.

The non-cask ales account for 90 per cent of the production of Boddingtons and include the draught and gold label varieties.

Steve Cahillane, chief executive of Interbrew UK and Ireland, said: "To reach this position on Boddingtons brewery has been extremely difficult.

"Every effort has been made by employees and Interbrew UK to improve efficiency and viability of the brewery.

"But in a highly competitive environment, it is just not sustainable to continue brewing keg ales at Boddingtons and then transport them to our other brewery sites for packaging, when those other sites already have the brewing capacity in place."

The Transport and General Workers' Union has vowed to fight the closure plans.

Area officer Frannie Joyce described the move as a "betrayal" and added: "We struck a deal with Interbrew two years ago to keep the brewery open and our members have more than kept to their side of the agreement.

"This is a betrayal of both the workforce and Boddingtons' customers throughout the world."

Interbrew employs 3,500 people at its five breweries across the UK.