AN extra 360 jobs look set to be brought to Burnley with the expansion of leading online fashion retailer www.boohoo.com.

And it is hoped the workforce at at the site, in Widow Hill Road, may soar to 1,000 staff before the end of next year.

Plans have been lodged with Burnley Council which would see the firm’s Heasandford Industrial Estate premises double in size.

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle, who met boohoo bosses, has said the announcement was ‘fabulous’ for the borough and cemented the ‘boom-town’ feeling. Mr Birtwistle said: “It is amazing that they came to Burnley just a few years ago with just 40 employees.

“Now they have more than 400 at Heasandford and are looking to add another 360. And they have told me they will be looking to employ 1,000 by 2015.

“These are jobs which will be suitable for all ages, jobs in warehousing, order picking, in the offices. Jobs which will be suitable for all kinds of people.

“It is fabulous news for Burnley and shows that we are still booming.”

Plans unveiled by the company show a 102,500 square feet extension to their existing distribution building – and another four-storey amenity block over another 30,500 square feet.

Work will be undertaken to create a new exit on Widow Hill Road, alongside a new security gatehouse and revised parking arrangements.

The firm, which arrived in Burnley in June 2010, has 425 workers, employed over four shifts.

The land has been owned by parent company Wasabi Frog Ltd for the past three-and-a-half years, in anticipation of the growth proposals.

Planning agent Richard Moffatt, of Manchester-based consultants Lambert Smith Hampton, said in a design statement that the extension would be a comfortable fit with the rest of the industrial estate.

He said: “The proposed development, once fully operational will add a further 360 jobs to the local economy. The proposal is needed in order to support the growing online retail business.”

The company was launched in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane and has won awards from leading fashion and leisure names including Cosmopolitan, Reveal and Heat magazines.

Mr Moffatt said: “The creation of this modern distribution facility and adjoining amenity facilities will help ensure that boohoo can remain at Heasandford for many years to come.”

Bosses at boohoo, which has headquarters in Manchester, were said to considering a stock market flotation early this year.

The news follows Warburtons announcing 60 new jobs at a new £20million plant opposite its base in Billington Road and a new company taking over the former Rourke ironworks site, creating 70 new jobs.