A STAGGERING £20 million could be spent on upgrading Malton Bacon Factory - and it could create about 60 jobs

A STAGGERING £20 million could be spent on upgrading Malton Bacon Factory - and it could create about 60 jobs.

Plans lodged with Ryedale District Council show a proposed new meat factory at the site will employ 61 staff.

Malton Bacon Factory said it was too early to confirm whether these would be new jobs, but managing director Max Hilliard told the Evening Press the plan would show its commitment to the local workforce.

"This application is a first step in considering and evaluating an investment programme of about £20 million to modernise the company's cooked meat facilities," he said.

"We are in a highly-competitive sector of the food industry and we are determined to continue to be at the leading edge in being able to satisfy the demands of the market place both here and abroad."

The development would involve building a meat product factory with pedestrian bridge and conveyer bridge. It would cover 4,000 square metres and 61 people would be employed there.

The company currently employs 7,000 people, 2,500 of them in Norton.

The proposed extension was welcomed by the Mayor of Norton, Margaret Taylor.

"We are so pleased in Norton. We want to make sure the jobs already there are safe. The main thing is they are committed to Norton," Mrs Taylor said.

A previous application to develop the bacon factory site in 1997 met with opposition from locals and councillors because of potential noise and traffic problems. It was eventually passed because it was decided the benefits to the community outweighed the costs.

Meanwhile, plans for a new superstore on the cattle market site in Malton town centre will be outlined to Ryedale District Council's policy & resources committee this evening.

Back in February, the Evening Press revealed that two developers had come forward to express interest in the site and the giant Wentworth Street car park, which is owned by the district council.

The lease on the livestock market, which is owned by the Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate, will expire in April, 2008.