Archive: Maerdy factory opening in 1997

It is 25 years since Mardy Colliery - the last coal mine in the Rhondda - closed down.

On the site of the pit, a £25m car components plant was opened in 1997.

Money from the old Welsh Development Agency and Welsh Office was enough to beat off competition from France and Ireland to build the Fenner's factory.

It promised 500 jobs but its story until recent years was one of takeovers, administrations and a workforce slimmed-down to double figures.

New owners have since diversified into making aerosol gaskets and now export to five continents.

Here is archive of the opening in December 1997.