The UK subsidiary of Swiss food producer Nestlé is to stop buying milk direct from UK dairy farmers.

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The group currently buys direct from some 460 farmers, but is to cease this practice, citing a slump in sales of condensed and evaporated milk.

Nestlé will close its factory in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, where the iconic Carnation evaporated milk has been made for years. The closure will lead to 117 redundancies.

The product will continue to be made under licence by Associated Co-operative Creameries, a subsidiary of the Co-operative Group.

Sweetened condensed milk will also continue to be made by Nestlé, but production will be transferred to factories in the Netherlands, reported the Financial Times. However, Nestlé will invest £2.5m (US$3.88m) in expanding the production of cappuccino at its plant in Cumbria, so this need incur no further job losses.

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