More than 40 printing and production staff have been made redundant following the closure of Northcliffe’s Hull press.

The last editions of the Hull Daily Mail and East Riding Mail were printed there on Friday, and they will now be printed in Grimsby where the Mail’s sister newspaper, the Grimsby Telegraph, is printed.

Consultation began with 47 production staff last month after Mail Publications said closure was being considered because it was not feasible to modernise the press to meet its future needs.

A total of 42 printing and production staff employed by The Northcliffe Press in Hull have now left the company, and a further three are likely to leave their posts within the next two months. Two staff have been redeployed.

TNP Hull general manager Adam Woodruff said: “I would like to pay tribute to all the printing and production staff for their exceptional service and commitment to the company. In many cases this has extended over many years, stretching back to before the press was built.

“The professionalism and expertise of the production crews has made a significant contribution to the company’s development. Indeed their skills have been vital in maintaining production in recent years as the inherent shortcomings of the press became more apparent.”

No staff in other departments at Mail Publications are affected, and managing director Phil Inman said the closure was not a reflection upon the performance of the business or its prospects going forward.

He said: “I and all the staff of Mail Publications would like to thank our colleagues in the printing and production teams for their contribution to our collective efforts and wish them the very best for the future.”

The future of the 18-year-old Hull press, which also printed the weekly Advertiser series, came under the spotlight after it was announced that plans for a new £57m print works at Elsham Wold, near Brigg in North Lincolnshire would not go ahead.

The proposed plant had been intended to print the Hull titles as well as the Grimsby Telegraph, Scunthorpe Telegraph and the Lincolnshire Echo, as well as editions of the national Daily Mail and the Mail On Sunday, with the Hull press originally earmarked for closure in 2007 along with Grimsby and Lincoln.

The Lincoln press closed in February.