A MAJOR expansion programme to double production at a Blackburn factory is underway.

Tensar International, which employs more than 350 at its two Netlon factories in the town, has started on a £2.5 million investment programme.

Most of the cash will be spent on an extension and new equipment at its Shadsworth site which is already working round the clock to meet orders.

The move is in response to increasing worldwide demand for its net and mesh products which are used for such diverse applications as packaging for oranges and motorway construction.

Netlon products include nets and crop supports for gardening, drainage for sports fields and windbreaks. Its Tensar products are used in heavy civil engineering such as road and railway construction.

Over the last 10 years turnover has grown from £4 million to £32.9 million last year.

Netlon was founded by Dr Brian Mercer in Blackburn in the 1950s and he sold the firm to its management in a multi-million deal.

Dr Mercer invented the plastic mesh which is today produced under licence from dozens of factories around the world.

The firm later patented the Tensar process which produces high strength polymer grids for civil engineering work.

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