THERE can be no "copper bottomed guarantee" that paper maker Fort James will make Horwich their head office, Bolton Council planning bosses have admitted.

The company has already written to Bolton Council confirming that it is willing to plough millions of pounds into its Horwich plant if a complex land swap agreement with Tesco gets the green light.

The company wants to swap sites with Tesco off Mansell Way, Horwich, in a deal which will be considered early next year at a public inquiry.

And Fort James bosses have earmarked the Horwich plant as their head office, in a move which they claim would boost workforce figures.

But at a meeting of the council's planning control sub-committee, members were told there can be no complete assurance that the firm will invest £25 million into new equipment.

Extra

No legal obligation can be written into any planning approval to ensure the extra investment, the committee was told.

Under questioning from Cllr John Hanscomb, the council's deputy director of environment, Richard Cowley, stressed that the company said they were prepared to make a multi-million pound investment in the site.

But he added: "There's no copper bottomed guarantee that they will make the Fort James site their head office."

A special planning agreement between the company and the council would, however, mean a £5 million expansion if the firm is able to move sites.

Referring to the potential £25 million investment, Cllr Hanscomb added: "A lot of people around this table and elsewhere will be livid if that does not happen."

Earlier this week Graham Yardley, director of Fort James, told the BEN the company was committed to Horwich.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.