A BURY car firm, rocked by the collapse of MG Rover, has saved 28 jobs by launching a £500,000 Chrysler and Jeep dealership.

Richard Cort on Tuesday opened the 1.5 acre showroom at the company's former MG Rover site in Manchester Road.

The new facility will take on the current MG Rover staff following the closure of the franchise. The business already operates a thriving Fiat dealership on a site nextdoor.

The new dealership will offer the full Chrysler and Jeep line-up which will be joined next year by the Dodge brand. The opening co-incides with the arrival of the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Dealer principal, Richard Cort, said: "The new Chrysler and Jeep dealership represents £500,000 of investment and will help save these local jobs. Our aim is to make it one of the leading operations in the region."

The Bury business still stocks and sells MG Rover vehicles and can offer warranties. Earlier this year, the car firm collapsed after attempts to sell it failed.

Mr Cort added: "We haven't actually closed the MG Rover dealership as such.

"But we are now doing Chrysler and Jeep instead of Rover. And over the next three to four months, the premises will be undergoing some form of refurbishment."

Richard Cort Ltd has been a major force in Bury since the firm set up in the town in 1990 and established its Rover dealership. Three years later, it launched its Fiat dealership.

Mr Cort added: "We also have a Chrysler and Jeep dealership at Rossendale and other dealerships in Oldham, Stockport and Manchester. We have six dealerships in all and employ a staff of 155, and we are still a privately-owned, family company."