AROUND 100 jobs will be created in Burnley after a national retailer announced it is to set up shop in the New Year.

Home, garden and leisure company The Range said it plans to open the doors to its latest store on Friday, January 30.

The Burnley store will be based in the former Homebase premises, in the Ashfield Retail Centre.

Around 45 jobs were lost when the DIY store, which had been at the site for six years, closed earlier this year.

Bosses at The Range, which has another East Lancashire store at Whitebirk, Blackburn, said the new jobs would be a mix of full and part time positions.

Gordon Birtwistle, MP for Burnley, said: "This show's that Burnley is definitely on the up and is a much more prosperous place than it was five years go.

"Unemployment in the town continues to fall and an announcement like this can only help that trend.

"Creating new jobs in the town is always good news and this also means that a vacant building on an important retail park is filled once again.

"As a town we do lose some businesses from time to time but we are gaining more than we are losing them.

"Burnley is booming and this is yet another example of that.

"The retail park is very important to the town economically so I very much welcome this news."

Chris Dawson, who owns the company, said: "We feel that The Range is a unique shopping experience that has something for everyone and we are confident that the people of Burnley will enjoy what we have to offer.

"We are a fast growing company and I am confident that the Burnley store will play an important role in our expansion.

"I would personally like to thank the council for welcoming us and being so supportive.

"I look forward to inviting the people of Burnley down to see what we are all about in the New Year.”

Coun Shah Hussain, cabinet member for the economy and regeneration on Burnley Council, said: "It's very positive that a national retailer has decided to come to Burnley.

"It's great that the people who lost their jobs when Homebase went will get the chance to return to work at that site.

"The Range has a different produce offering than Homebase and I think that it will appeal to the people of Burnley.

"It's good news for the town that big businesses want to come here and I hope that it's not the last."

The Range have been in talks about taking over the site, which includes a 115-space car park, since the summer.

When Homebase announced in June that it would close the store, one of a number shut nationally, it encouraged the workforce to apply for new jobs for the new store.

The Range was founded in 1989 and currently has 93 stores across the country.

More than 2,500 people are employed across the stores with the first one opening in Plymouth.