ONE of Blackburn's most famous brand names has been sold to a foreign company, ending a 53-year association with the town.

The Netlon brand was invented by the late Dr Brian Mercer -- a close friend of surrealist artist Salvador Dali -- and became synonymous with the town.

But it is now owned by the Belgian subsidiary of US-based Conwed Plastics and production is being moved out of Blackburn.

It follows a decision by the Tensar Group, the Blackburn-based ground engineering company, to sell its Netlon division after receiving an "attractive offer."

The deal was sealed late on Monday and will lead to the machinery being moved to a plant in the Belgian city of Genk.

There will be six redundancies at Tensar's Shadsworth factory and the rest of the division's production staff will be given other jobs in the parent company, while its field sales force will be transferred to the new owners.

A worker from Tensar's Netlon division, who did not want to be named, said: "It is a sad day for people involved with the brand.

"I have been here for 20 years and most of the lads have been here a lot longer. We are upset at the way it has been handled."

Tensar was keen to point out there had been regular meetings with unions throughout the process.

Netlon is one of the most outstanding inventions to come out of East Lancashire and made Dr Mercer a multi-millionaire after he founded Netlon Ltd in 1952.

The revolutionary plastic mesh, which makes grass surfaces more durable, has been used at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia, Hong Kong race course and even on the lawns of Buckingham Palace where it provides the landing zone for the Royal helicopter. The technology is licensed worldwide.

Netlon Ltd became the Tensar Group several years ago after the company underwent a re-structuring. The name was retained and allocated to a division of the company dealing with industrial and horticultural netting.

Tensar, which had not been looking to sell the division, was willing to listen to offers because Netlon only made up a small part of its turnover.

Based in Mill Hill and Shadsworth, the company, which employs 250, exports worldwide and has direct selling operations in Germany, Sweden, the Middle East and China.

Last month, the company officially opened a new production plant in Wuhan, China.

Its products are used to reinforce soil structures and applications include road building, foundations, retaining walls, bridges and steep embankments.

Jim Paul, chief executive of Tensar Group, said: "The new owners will give a fresh boost to the Netlon brand, which continues to have real demand and value in the marketplace."