BUILDING work has started on a site which was recently cleared of a toxic cocktail of chemicals left by a former gas works.

A £600,000 base for Darwen Access is being built at the Robin Bank site in Darwen, where £1.25 million was spent on decontaminating the land.

Darwen Access, an advice centre for the unemployed, will transfer its services from their Railway Road premises to Robin Bank when the building work is finished next summer.

Preston-based RBL Construction have been contracted to build the new offices.

The land, situated between Robin Bank and Duckworth Street, was cleared last year after chemicals, including asbestos, lead, ammonia, arsenic and mercury, was found beneath the surface.

The clean-up was funded by the Department of Environment.

Blackburn Council has assured local traders and residents that the site is completely decontaminated and there is no risk to people's health.

A council spokesman said: "The site is cleared and ready for development. The land left after the Darwen Access premises are built has been allocated for residential use but nothing definite has been planned. It is a question for the near future."

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