A £3.5 MILLION business park development in Swinden Clough, Nelson, is expected to create more than 280 jobs for local people after securing almost half a million pounds of funding.

The regeneration project, being developed by Richard Bannister Business Park, has received £418,000 from the Northwest Development Agency through Pendle Partnership's SRB2 programme 'The Way Ahead'.

When complete the business park will create 6,202 square metres of new office space -- equivalent to the size of a football pitch -- and hundreds of jobs.

The development, which is on an area of land once used as the local authority tip, will take place in two phases.

The first of these will begin in December this year and is due to be completed by December 2002, providing two buildings measuring 1,254 square metres each and around 107 job opportunities.

Janet Bradbury, Pendle Council's executive director of regeneration, said: "The Swinden Business Park is the final piece of the SRB2 programme The Way Ahead, which has helped to open up new commercial and industrial sites in Pendle.

"Since it began in 1995, The Way Ahead scheme has invested more than £2 million of SRB cash in to business park and commercial developments in Pendle, including £382,000 in to the West Craven Business Park in Earby -- a scheme which is due to be completed early next year.

"Development of these business parks provides space for local firms wanting to expand as well as new companies coming in to the area. Both give a boost to the local economy and hundreds of job opportunities for local people."

It is expected that by March 2003 all 107 job vacancies in the first phase will be filled.

Gillian Jones, of Pendle Partnership, said: "The important thing now is to get the infrastructure and the roads done, get the services in and get the first two buildings up by December next year.

"It will tackle and get rid of any contamination which may have resulted from he original tip which was on the site before it became grown over and hopefully turn it into a thriving business park. It will give a big boost to the area."