A CLAY quarry which has played an important role in the life of the village of Meeth for more than 80 years, closed for the final time last Friday. French owners Imerys say costs at the Meeth clay works are too high and it has no option but to shut the plant down, with ten people being made redundant. Sales of clay from Meeth have dropped by 60% in eleven years because of competition from Ukrainian clay, which is considerably cheaper to produce. The Meeth North Devon Clay Company was founded by Lewis Cobbledick and five or six others after they bought the mineral rights in 1912. Mr Cobbledick?s grandson Jim lives with his wife Phyllis in the village. He said: ?With the outset of the first world war, production did not start until 1920, then in 1964 it was sold out to the English China Clay and later to Imerys.? Mr Cobbledick said people in the village were sad to see this piece of history lost. ?When I was a youngster about thirty people worked there. A lot of people have been connected to it down the years. I think it has been an asset to the village. ?All the mining had been underground until the early 1960s when it became open-cast around the time it was sold to English China Clay.? A statement from Imerys said: ?The tonnage at Meeth has been declining since 1993 when Ukrainian clays started to be marketed in Europe. These are considerably cheaper than the clays being produced at Meeth. ?In 1999, some restructuring was implemented, which reduced the operation to one working unit of plant. ?Since then, although great efforts have been made to contain costs, there has been a further reduction in tonnage. Total sales have dropped by 60% over the last eleven years.? The statement went on: ?Unfortunately, no viable alternatives have been found in order to keep the Meeth operations open. ?The company would like to thank all the staff for their efforts over recent years in keeping costs to a minimum.? Imerys said a decision had not yet been made about the future of the site but talks were taking place with Devon County Council about its restoration. West Devon Borough Councillor for Hatherleigh Dennis Bater said: ?It is a real shame as it has been going for many years. I am really vexed for the people who worked there. It is a crying shame.?