Williams Industrial Services (WIS), based in Co Antrim, has gone into administration with the loss of 145 jobs in the area.

The firm had been contracted to build a €26m anaerobic digester (AD) facility, but ran into financial difficulty during the project, reputedly caused by contractual disputes.

WIS was set up in 1983, and was one of the largest companies providing environmental engineering technology on the island of Ireland, with an annual turnover of £50m at its height.

It was hoped that the AD plant in Donegal would treat up to 25,000t of poultry litter from Northern Ireland and turn it into biogas.

Its closure will come as a blow to the sector and call into question the future of the Donegal plant.

Invest NI had put €10.5m towards the construction of the new AD facility and it has described the closure of the construction firm as "very regrettable".

The Invest NI loan had been provided to Glenmore Generation Ltd, a Co Tyrone-based company who contracted WIS to build the AD plant in Donegal.

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Almost 150 jobs lost as anaerobic digester construction halts

A Northern Irish contractor building an anaerobic digester in Donegal has gone into administration.