Midland dairy giant Müller has bought an ailing Shropshire creamery for £4.3 million.

Muller will take over the 26 acre Minsterley plant, which makes chilled desserts under licence from Cadbury, in January next year.

The move will see its 80 workers retained and the new owners hope to extend the range of products made there.

Earlier this year the creamery laid off 350 jobs as current owners Uniq, part of the Greencore Group, scaled back its operation.

The purchase comes months after Muller bought milk producer Robert Wiseman Dairies, which has a site in Worcestershire, at the start of this year.

Muller corporate communications director Graeme Jack said: “We are purchasing the site with the intention of growing our presence in the chilled desserts market, and that should lead to opportunities at the site in the future.

“It’s a positive move not just for Muller but for the people that work in Minsterley.”

The British subsidiary of Luxembourg based holding company Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller, has been based in Market Drayton, Shropshire, for 20 years.

The group companies generate annual revenues of around £3.7 billion and have around 21,000 employees.

Heiner Kamps, chief executive officer of Unternehmensgruppe Theo Müller, said: “The acquisition is in line with our strategy to internationally acquire profitable companies in markets where we already are a successful player.”

The Ministerley creamery dates back to the early 1900s when the chief clerk at milk processor Wathes Bros spotted an opportunity to collect the 500 gallons of milk being produced by Shropshire farmers for the company’s dairy in Birmingham.

When it opened in 1906 it employed just four people and Wathes Bros expanded into other products including cheese, cream and chocolate crumb and soon needed to move to a bigger site closer to the railway line.

By the time it was bought by Independent Dairies in 1951 the site covered 10 acres and employed more than 100 people.

Despite several ownership changes the business continued to grow during the sixties and seventies and in the early eighties stopped producing cheese and butter to focus on the booming yogurt and desserts market.

Greencore acquired Uniq, the owner of the site, in September 2011.

Ronald Kers, chief executive of Müller UK & Ireland Group said: “Müller has the leading position in the UK desserts sector and we are ambitious to build on this.

“This acquisition gives us the opportunity to further develop Cadbury brand’s presence as part of our portfolio, and bring affordable luxury to the category.

“We are delighted to reach this agreement with Greencore and look forward to working with the team at Minsterley to develop our presence in this exciting category.”