ANY project which has the potential to create 1,000 jobs in Bolton should be supported.

B&E Boys, of Rawtenstall, the new owners of the former Sandusky Walmsley factory in Crompton Way, Bolton, have said they will develop the 45 acre site over the next few years into a mini industrial village.

It is good that the land has not been given over to more interminable housing estates but will remain for industrial development. The one thing Bolton does not need now is more apartment blocks.

But the town does need new industries which offer the prospect of decent, well paid employment for local people.

Phase one is complete and is now home to six industrial units, all of which have been taken.

The next phases will see an office block for a national quantity surveyors company and a technology park with smaller units. This plan is good news for Bolton and should be supported wholeheartedly.