NEARLY 50 people have lost their jobs after the collapse of an East Lancashire business.

Altham-based Thornton Sports Group, which manufactures, fits and maintains sports surfaces and artificial grass, ceased trading on Wednesday making 47 of its 52 staff redundant.

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The group has been behind huge projects such as refurbishing Mile End Park Stadium as a training venue for the US Olympic team during London 2012 and providing artificial grass pitches for Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves rugby teams.

Joanne Hammond and John Russell, of Begbies Traynor, in Sheffield, have been appointed as joint administrators of the group.

Miss Hammond said that the company was unable to rectify some quality issues which has made the business unviable.

She said: “Unfortunately, the group suffered from quality problems with some of its products which proved too costly to rectify. This, together with low margins and increased competition, has made the business unviable.

“We will be marketing Thornton Sport’s manufacturing plant and working to recover further funds for the creditors.”

Thornton Sports also delivered the installation of a new 3G synthetic grass pitch at the Prairie Sports Village in Burnley as part of a highly-anticipated revamp of the area two years ago.

The pitch, which replaced the old asphalt surface, has been regularly stacked out with bookings from soccer clubs since its installation.

The £2.5million development was backed by Burnley FC, the English Golf Union and the Rugby Football League and also included a state-of-the-art gym, a 24-bay golf driving range and a multi-use studio.

The company has also been involved with the Lancashire FA County Ground in Leyland, Rossall School in Fleetwood and Bishop Rawstorne CE Academy in Croston have all been worked on by Thornton Sports.

The group, established over 35 years ago, comprises six complementary companies including Thornton Sports Ltd, Thornton Contracts Ltd, GTC Sports Ltd, Protech AllWeather and Soccer Turf. Its manufacturing plant is based in Altham and its maintenance operation is in Wigston, near Leicester.

Graham Jones, Hyndburn MP, said that he was disappointed to hear about so many job losses which he hopes can somehow be saved.

He said: “I am first of all disappointed for the people who have lost their jobs and the families from what was once a prospering company.

“If anything can be done to save a company I think that every effort should be made to do that, it’s people’s livelihoods that we are talking about here.

"There is a lot of talk about the economy succeeding and in some places such as Hyndburn that is not the case, there is unemployment that is gradually rising and I have got a real concern that the government is not taking the so-called Northern Powerhouse seriously.

“We cannot afford to lose highly-skilled companies and I hope that there will be some new investment into Thornton Sports and that jobs can be saved.”