THE first business development on the site of the former Reedyford Mill has been announced.

A deal has been completed to build a petrol filling station on the mixed-use development in Nelson.

Leeds-based developer, Eshton, recently signed ownership of the land over to Blackburn-based Kay Group, one of the UK’s top 25 independent fuel retailers, for an undisclosed amount.

The site, alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, is also close to junction 13 of the M65 and sits within a six-acre site on Pendle Street, where there are plans for industrial units and homes.

Eshton, the Yorkshire-based firm behind Burnley Bridge Business Park, secured planning consent to develop the site, where Reedyford Mill once stood, in June 2015.

The Kay Group, which is headquartered in Blackburn and includes Intack Self Drive, employs more than 200 people and serves more than 140,000 customers a week.

Richard Cox, managing director at The Kay Group, said: “This location is a great opportunity for us as a business and is also ideally located for our customer base.

“We have been impressed with the vision to create a new development with great accessibility that will serve a wide range of users, not least the thousands of people who travel along the M65 every day.

“We’re looking forward to getting cracking with the new site and aim to be fully operational by May 2016.”

Jonathan Chapman, director at Eshton, added: “The Kay Group is very well known locally and seemed like the perfect fit for this new development.

“We’ve spent a lot of time in East Lancashire thanks to our experience developing Burnley Bridge Business Park and think the area has huge potential, so we are pleased to have worked together with The Kay Group and this is a local success story to providing a scheme that is right for local people and visitors to the area.”

Building work will begin in January.