WARMLEY, England (From The Bristol Post) -- Plain packaging laws have been blamed for the closure of one of Bristol's last remaining cigarette factories, resulting in the loss of dozens of jobs.

Some 75 people have been made redundant from Amcor's cigarette packaging site in Warmley.

The Australian company said the closure, which the Bristol Post understands will take place before the end of the year, was caused by the introduction of plain packaging law across the UK in May.

The factory - which was formally owned by Imperial Tobacco - marks the end of Bristol's ties to the cigarette industry which stretch back hundreds of years.

In a statement Amcor said: "The proposed closure reflects the challenging economic environment, wherein tax pressure coupled with illegal trade has resulted in declining industry volumes in Europe.

"Increased legislation has further compounded these factors. The UK and Ireland have passed legislation which saw plain packaging introduced from 20 May this year, with France to follow suit on 1 January 2017.

"The introduction of plain packaging legislation means fewer pack formats and lower print complexity. Production at our Bristol plant has been affected, with the plant operating well below its capacity."

Jerzy Czubak, president of Amcor Tobacco Packaging, added: "The prospect of job losses is always deeply regrettable and we are committed to doing all we can to retain and support our employees.

"We are facing significant and sustained changes in Western Europe, therefore we need to consider how we optimise and adapt our operations to best meet our customer needs in this challenging operating environment".

It comes after Conservative MP for Kingswood, Chris Skidmore, voted against plain cigarette packaging in Parliament last year.

Speaking at the time, Mr Skidmore said: "Mr Skidmore said: "The new regulations did not cover the complex packaging I had hoped for, including embossing and metallic printing.

"I had to put my constituent's jobs first on this vote."

Bought in 2010, the Warmley site was formally owned by Mardon Son and Hall Ltd, part of the Imperial Tobacco dynasty.

The company started out as a small printing and engraving outfit by John Price in 1823, and two decades later had expanded to headed notepaper and address cards.

The real money came rolling in when the firm started supplying papers to a large Kingswood pin factory and wrappers to the Redcliffe tobacco company, Franklin, Davey and Company.

In 1888, Mardon's started printing the packets for Will's, then Bristol's biggest tobacco producers, and a decade later the firm was operating from two huge new factories - known as No.1 and No. 2 - in Temple Gate.

They were one of the first firms to produce advertising cards to be included in cigarette packages, and it printed several collections including cricketers, ships, sailors and footballers.

Shortly after the turn of the century, Mardon Son and Hall Ltd became part of the giant Imperial Tobacco brand in a bid to prevent top secret packaging patents from falling in to the hands of American firms.

The company also began to produce playing cards which were used to help sell the packs of cigarettes.

Manufacturers would place two miniature cards in packs of Goldflakeor Capstan cigarettes, and the customer could send off for a full-size pack.

Disaster befell the company during the Second World War, when it lost 10 of its 13 Bristol factories.

However, the firm was able to pull itself back from the brink and continues to employ thousands of people across the city up until it was bought out by Canadian group Lawson in the 1980s.