By JANE FIELD

FIDDLERS Ferry, one of Britain's largest power stations, has been put up for sale by Edison Mission Energy, putting 300 jobs at risk.

The move follows financial problems the company has experienced since the changes in the electricity market in Britain which made it more competitive.

Fiddlers Ferry, which has been in the town for more than 30 years, was sold to Edison Mission Energy by PowerGen for £637 million in 1999.

Edison says that the price of electricity has fallen by more than it anticipated when it bought the plant, forcing it to call in merchant bankers Goldman Sacks to advise on whether or not to sell or look at other options.

But it is assuring any potential buyers that Fiddlers Ferry remains a viable plant and is not losing money.

"It is still doing much better than before we took over," said a spokesman for Edison. "The company is not making as much money as we would like because we raised considerable amounts of finance when we bought it."

There are no redundancies anticipated in the short-term, but no guarantees have been made that all jobs will be protected.

The spokesman added: "We expect that jobs will be safeguarded but we cannot say categorically because we don't know if we are selling or who the purchasers might be."

Also on the market is the company's other coal fire plant at Ferry Bridge in Yorkshire. Edison hopes to have made a decision in the next few weeks.