A NEW joint venture by two of Pendle's biggest employers will create up to 150 new jobs if it gets the go ahead.

Boundary Mill Stores and Asda have applied to extend their stores in Colne and create a 336 space car park to ease traffic congestion.

A previous joint application by the firms for a larger-scale expansion was withdrawn earlier this year after the Government "called in" the scheme for a decision by the Secretary of State for the Environment.

The Government has ordered a crackdown on "out of town" shopping centres that encourage extra traffic and hit town centres. Bosses are confident that this latest smaller extensions proposal will escape being "called in".

Plans show Boundary Mill wants to link its existing main store and its glass and china department with a shopping mall. Asda plans to extend the side of its supermarket where the restaurant is to provide a new restaurant area and space for staff, freeing more space within the store. Asda wants to improve the supermarket, particularly in the face of competition from the Morrisons store, Nelson, which is to open next month.

The extensions total around 2,000 sq metres and the application says it will increase the workforce on both sites from 750 to 900.

The firms also want to formally lay out a 336 space car park in Corporation Street. The area is currently rough ground used as an informal overspill car park.

The companies have called in consultants to provide reports on how the scheme will effect local traffic and shops in Colne and Nelson.

A report by retail consultancy BDP said suggestions the stores could move to alternative sites were not viable, unrealistic and would create a "logistical nightmare".

It concluded: "The proposal meets an unsatisfied need; cannot be accommodated elsewhere; does not seriously affect the vitality or viability of the local town centres; does not prejudice the importance of other land; is located so as to be accessible by a choice of means of transport; does not have a detrimental effect on the environment or residential areas; has a significant benefit to the local economy and will assist in retaining existing employment opportunities."

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