WORK has now started on a multi-million project to expand the Rolls-Royce factory in Barnoldswick.

It comes as the company announced it has won a major order to provide engines for an international airline.

Although it will not create new jobs at the Rainhall Road site, bosses said it will help strengthen its order book.

It is hoped the £28million wide chord fan blade facility extension will be completed early next year.

It means the company will be able to manufacture 6,000 large Trent fan blades a year - almost twice its current capacity.

A Rolls Royce spokeswoman said: “Long lead-time equipment items have been ordered in readiness for the extension with all the work on the foundations now complete.

“Progress is also being made in the creation of the new Centre of Excellence in Structures and Transmissions.

“We continue to install new machinery and technology to support the new centre, which will manufacture complex structures such as front bearing and tail bearing housings which feature in all Rolls-Royce aero engines.”

Rolls-Royce has invested more than £100m in the site over the last three years as it modernises its facilities and increases production of engines for widebody passenger aircraft.

The engineering company recently won a major order from Ethiopian Airlines to provide Trent XWB engines for ten new Airbus A350-900 aircraft with TotalCare service support.

Fan blades for the engine are manufactured at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick.

The new $1.5billion order brings its manufacturing backlog to more than 1,500 engines.

Eric Schulz, present of Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace, said: “A repeat order from Ethiopian is a huge testament to the performance of our engines in service. We look forward to continuing to deliver excellent efficiency to a customer that continues to bring the latest engine and aircraft technology into its fleet.”