COUNTY council bosses have been asked to support the regeneration of a sprawling former factory complex near the M65 which could generate 1,000 jobs.

Economic development officials from Burnley Council are working closely with the new owners of the Pollard Moor site near Hapton, opposite junction nine, to bring it back into use.

Formerly it housed Hepworth's Building Products but now Lancashire-based Shawbrook Developments want to create a range of employment opportunities there.

Borough councillors have previously agreed to pay BWB Consulting £50,000 to carry out a feasability study on the prospect of establishing a bridge over the Leeds Liverpool Canal, to link in with the junction.

Currently the only way of reaching the Hepworth's site, and other industrial areas like Shuttleworth Mead, is by leaving the motorway at junction eight and using the A56.

A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "The site is critically important to Burnley’s economic prospects as it is the largest brownfield site within the borough’s Local Plan (for) employment land allocation.

"The site now has new ownership who, since last November, have embarked on a comprehensive programme of assembly and evaluation aimed at a comprehensive redevelopment providing a range of employment provision, with the intention of completion by 2014."

County councillors, via the Lancashire Local Burnley committee, are being asked to give the go-ahead for the authority to support lobbying efforts on behalf of the site with the Highways Agency, British Waterways Board and Lancashire Economic Partnership.

Only the input of each of the agencies will make the ambitious scheme finally become a reality, it is believed.

Regeneration officers hope that the Hepworth's land will link in with the redevelopment of the former Michelin plant at Heasandford and the Princess Way Enterprise Park, next to the new Burnley College campus.

The county council spokesman added: "As with all brownfield sites there are specific challenges to overcome before redevelopment can occur. The owners are confident these can be tackled with a powerful partnership across the public sector.”