COUNCIL chiefs are remaining tight lipped over speculation that holiday giants Airtours could be moving part of their business operation into Accrington.

Lawyers are working on a deal to let an entire floor of The Globe Centre to "an international blue chip company" creating 130 jobs.

The identity of the company is being kept under wraps by Hyndburn Council, but it is believed to be Rossendale-based Airtours.

Hyndburn Council director of development services Nigel Rix said: "We have hopes that several national and international companies will move into The Globe.

"Discussions are in train with a number of such companies," he added. An Airtours spokesperson said : "We don't comment on speculation.

"The company has not made any firm decision as to what it is going to do," he added.

The showpiece Globe, short-listed for a national award for innovation, was created in a redundant former mill.

It already houses the council's economic development unit, the East Lancashire Promotions Partnership, Business Link, Hyndburn Enterprise Trust, the CVS, Lancashire Hill Country tourism unit, and small businesses as well as boasting a hotel, brasserie and restaurant.

Work on phase two of The Globe, costing between £6 and £7 million, is hoped to begin by late spring or early summer.

Plans for the extension, linked to the existing building, will be considered by Hyndburn development services committee on March 5.

The aim is to offer not only office space but to encourage hi-tech firms to relocate to The Globe.

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