A county council has briefly run a food factory to save 190 jobs. Employees at Cheviot Foods have now learned their jobs have been saved, after Northumberland County Council stepped in at the 11th hour and covered operating costs for a week. The council allowed a management buy-out team to complete the deal with the administrators for the firm, which had become one of the victims of the credit crunch. Vantis Business Recovery had planned to close the factory on the 23 January, if potential bidders failed to provide satisfactory evidence of their funding. The council agreed to fund operating costs for the factory for a further week at a cost of £45,000, in order to allow the potential buyers time to arrange funding and complete a deal. Steve Stewart, Northumberland CC chief executive, said: ‘I'm delighted that our intervention has helped safeguard around 190 jobs, and the long-term security of the plant. The knock-on effects would have impacted on the whole supply chain including local suppliers and customers.'