A BUS manufacturer which axed 100 jobs has pledged to stay in East Lancashire when it completes a £6million-plus relocation.
The Darwen Group has announced it is planning to move from its base in Lower Philips Road, Whitebirk, Blackburn, to a new, custom built factory in East Lancashire.
The move ends speculation that the firm, which recently bought East Lancashire Coachbuilders, could move to the North East.
Bosses said they were drawing up a shortlist of potential sites.
They said the new factory will allow the increased capacity to win new business.
The firm's sister company - Darwen North West, formerly North West Bus and Coach Repairs - based in Appleby Street, Blackburn, could also be relocated to the new site.Andrew Brian, chief executive of The Darwen Group, said a final decision would be made in weeks.
He said: "We have made a commitment to relocate locally which will be an investment in excess of £6million.
"We have not identified a final site and we are in the process of finalising a shortlist.
"The main reason is to create a factory conducive to the methods of manufacturing we require.
"We also intend increasing our portfolio of business we offer so we need to increase capacity.
"The factory is being specified to accommodate expansion."
The Darwen Group is a newly formed company set up by entrepreneur Roy Stanley, chief executive of electric vehicle manu-facturing company The Tanfield Group plc, based in Tyne and Wear.
It bought East Lancashire Coachbuilders in August after the firm went into administration.
Following a review of the business, which produced about 250 buses a year, 97 staff were made redundant.
About 260 staff are still employed between The Darwen Group and Darwen North West.
The Darwen Group is to start production of a hybrid double decker bus which will run on a combination of electricity and diesel.
The firm is also hoping to bring in millions of pounds worth of business by securing contracts for the 1,500 buses needed for the 2012 London Olympics.
Nobody from the TGWU union was available to comment.
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