UP to 25 jobs at a Bury firm have been saved at the last minute after it clinched a £7 million contract for the new Wembley Stadium.

Bosses at ductwork company Senior Hargreaves had announced in October that 20 to 25 redundancies would have to be made at its Lord Street headquarters.

But securing the ductwork contract for the new sports stadium currently under construction has given staff an 11th-hour reprieve.

Managing director Mr Kevin White said: "We announced the redundancies at the end of October. But last week the notices were withdrawn when we won the new contract for Wembley Stadium.

"We had been seeking work for the months ahead, and while this new £7 million contract doesn't fill us up, so to speak, it certainly goes a long way towards that."

Senior Hargreaves, heating and ventilation contractors and specialist ductwork manufacturers, was originally established by its founder, Henry Hargreaves, in 1892.

Earlier this year, the firm (one of Greater Manchester's largest non-public sector employers) installed an extract and filtration system at Sellafield.

Ductwork contracts in the past have involved the Lloyds building in London and the Millennium Dome, as well as many other high-profile developments including the Nat West Tower, British Library and Barbican Centre.