BOSSES at Blackburn's historic LG Philips factory, at Whitebirk, today said they were confident of securing the long-term future of the site just months after there were fears for the firm.

The firm, owned by LG Electronics of Korea and Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, is looking to secure £1.8million, partly from its head office, and partly from outside investment.

It is hoped the money will let the factory start mass-producing new technology to be used in the manufacture of flat screens, a lucrative new market.

The news comes just months after the firm's holding company, LG Philips Holdings BV, filed for bankruptcy, putting the future of the Blackburn site in doubt.

Now the heads of the Blackburn site have revealed the investment would be a mark of the firm's confidence in its 200 staff, and have claimed the investment could keep the site, at one point thought to be under threat after restructuring in the firm, up and running.

Phil Brown, plant director, said: "We can compete globally in electronics manufacturing, because we do very difficult things very well. If it was easy, somebody else would do it cheaper.

"We have to explore the new business possibilites which can secure a long-term future for the Blackburn plant. Now we need to work hard and deliver.

"It has been tough. We have lost people. There are less employed here now than there were three years ago, but through all of that we have kept skills and competence. Now we are looking to increase our revenues and, for this, it is essential we move with the times and the new technologies."

Cutting-edge technology has been used on the Philips Road site for almost 75 years since it opened as Mullards, but downturns in trade mean a workforce which once numbered 6,000 is now down to 200. In its heyday of manufacturing valves, it covered 45 acres, and workers were shipped in on special buses from across East Lancashire.

But the factory is now LG Philips' only plant in the UK, after the closure of a number of sites, including a glass factory in Simonstone in 2004. The Blackburn factory was revealed to be under threat too recently, when its parent company applied for insolvency protection.

The company admits concerns had been expressed' about the Blackburn site. But the new investment would see the site move into the cold cathode' market making parts to be used in flat screen televisions and computer screens, one of the world's fastest growing business sectors.

Maria Cahill, human resources manager, said the news was a confirmation of the hard work done by staff at the site. She said: "Our future will be built on the high-level skills and commitment of our employees. That competence has a foundation built over years of manufacturing on the site, but needs to be regenerated continually."