NIDD Vale Group, one of Yorkshire's largest independent motor retailers, has opened its new bodyshop centre on Hornbeam Business Park, Harrogate, following a £500,000 investment programme.

The centre occupies half the company's 30,000 sq ft aftersales complex at Hornbeam, where its servicing and parts facilities are also located.

The equipment, installed as part of the investment, includes three large capacity, low bake ovens.

Its manager Robert Butterfield said: "Most bodyshops have only a single oven and are unable to handle light commercial vehicles and so our facilities - which we believe are among the largest in the region - give us the edge."

He has also introduced a continuous flow process "which helps us to achieve repairs of factory quality."

The bodyshop has already won approval to carry out repair work from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Saab and Vauxhall as well as leading insurance companies.