CONSTRUCTION work has begun on a £3.5 million office complex that will create 450 jobs at the Shuttleworth Mead Business Park in Padiham.

Homeloan Management Limited - part of Skipton Building Society - is creating a second centre at the business park to cope with growing work demands from building societies and other financial institutions.

A turf-cutting ceremony marked the start of construction, carried out by HML director Vince Smith and Padiham Mayor Coun Mark Jinkinson.

The building, adjacent to HML's existing operations at Shuttleworth Mead, is due for completion in November and will house 450 staff, processing mortgages on behalf of the company's clients. The offices are being built by local contractors and developers, Nelson-based Barnfield Construction.

Vince Smith said: "We are already operating out of our 20,000 square foot office space in Padiham acquired in spring 2003 and we need to expand further to cope with the strong business growth we are experiencing.

"HML's business has doubled in size in just over a year.

"The new building will enable us to grow our staff numbers in Padiham to more than 600 by the end of next year, making the Lancashire site the largest of our four UK business operations.

"This is an excellent location for us, as it is convenient for our head office in Skipton and provides a good labour market for us to find the right people to come and work with us."

Coun Jinkinson said: "We are delighted HML is delivering on its promise to expand further in Padiham and create more jobs for local people. The company is a welcome addition to our economy here and we are fast building a good local workforce with expertise in mortgage administration. It's good news for HML and it's good news for Padiham."