A spokesman for the firm said the increasingly challenging economic climate had led to a drop in orders and capacity had to be cut at the Barnoldswick site.

In the short term, shifts are to be consolidated and short-time working introduced in some areas to keep job cuts to a minimum.

That process will begin on Monday with the transfer of several night-shift assembly teams on to double day shifts, with all operatives concerned invited to transfer to alternate shifts or changed roles.

But workers were warned that, should there be no vacancies or a duplication of tasks, some redundancies are inevitable.

Mr Neal Mernock, Silentnight Beds Managing Director said: "In spite of our sales being up in the first quarter, the economic slowdown is affecting everyone in the UK bed industry.

"With the increasing cost of living, sales of big-ticket items such as beds are increasingly postponed. Consequently, lower than anticipated sales these past few months have compelled us to make these difficult decisions.

"It's important we act quickly to accommodate this problem to remain competitive and profitable throughout 2008 and thereby ensure a stable future for this business and its employees.

"We are hopeful we can keep redundancies at a minimum and we will be communicating fully with our employees on a regular basis throughout the process."