The shutting of the Tallington plant in the south west comes as part of a nationwide closure of Tarmac’s precast concrete and flooring business.

Around another 70 staff will be kept on at the site to finish the remaining contracts.

Tarmac had been in last ditch talks with Network Rail over a contract to make railway sleepers in order to safeguard jobs at the site, but those broke down.

Now that the three-month consultation with unions is complete there will also be staged factory closures at Lound in Nottinghamshire, Henlade in Somerset and Derby with a total loss of 467 jobs.

Blair Illingworth, chief executive of Tarmac Building Products, said: “Following our announcement in December last year we have made the tough decision to close most of our precast concrete and precast flooring operations.

“Regrettably, this means that Tallington will close to new business with the loss of 209 jobs.

“We have explored every option for keeping Tallington open but market conditions and reduced demand for its particular products mean that it’s not economically viable.

“We’ve gone through a thorough consultation process and will continue to do all we can to provide people with support and guidance in finding jobs elsewhere.”

The firm is keeping its TermoDeck, SafetyDeck and Dolyhir Fast Floor businesses open.