A £21million East Lancashire abattoir overhaul will mean the slaughter of an extra 7,000 pigs a week, a supermarket giant announced yesterday.

But the investment by Morrisons, at the former Woodhead Bros site in Junction Street, Colne, is not expected to bring any further employment to the area.

Replacing existing equipment with state-of-the-art machinery will account for the bulk of the programme, say bosses at the West Yorkshire based retail chain.

The deal was unveiled at the firm’s second annual farming conference, as Morrisons bids to outflank the competition in the fresh food stakes.

Currently the Colne plant deals with around 24,000 pigs each week and the moves will enable production to be increased by more than a third.

A Morrisons spokesman said: “The investment will mainly cover improving and replacing equipment. It is not going to lead to any new positions being created. We believe we already have the capacity to deal with the extra numbers.”

Another previous expansion at the site, on Whitewalls Industrial Estate, in 2008 saw around 160 slaughtermen jobs established. Nearly 830 people are thought to now work there.

Work has been ongoing to minimise odour problems with the plant for some time - with much of the protests coming from the neighbouring Asda supermarket in Corporation Street.

The abattoir improvements are part of a £200million package unveiled by Morrisons in its fresh division at the Harrogate gathering.