THE opening of the Michelin factory in Burnley in 1960 was the great white hope for the future of manufacturing in the town.

Against a background of the collapse of traditional industries like textiles and heavy engineering, the arrival of the French multinational was a breath of fresh air.

A purpose-built factory at the Heasandford Industrial Estate brought bright, modern working conditions which were unheard of in East Lancashire. Sports and social facilities introduced by Michelin were years ahead of their time and the company was widely regarded as a model employer.

But hope turned to despair when the company announced the 36-acre plant would close with the loss of 452 jobs in 2001.

The end of the factory came as no surprise to the workers following as it did a steady drop from a peak of more than 1,000 employees in the 1970s.

In 1985, the wheel-making plant was closed with the loss of 200 jobs and the remainder of the jobs were only saved when the French owners finally agreed to a £3.5 million modernisation programme.

Throughout the 1990s, a series of relatively small-scale redundancies reduced the size of the workforce. At Christmas 2000 and in June the same year, workers were effectively laid off for week-long 'extended holidays' in a bid to reduce overheads.

In a bitter pay dispute, the company threatened to withdraw additional long-service holidays and to axe the premium paid for weekend shifts.

The inevitability of the closure, however, was no less of a blow and came at the end of a poor year for manufacturing in the town. In September TRW Automotive announced 63 job losses and in October aerospace group Hurel Hispano said 100 posts were being axed.

There was good news on the horizon though and a year after the factory closed plans were announced to turn the site into a £3.7million technology centre as part of a bid to train local people and create more than 1,500 jobs for the borough.

Rising like a phoenix from the flames the centre, funded by North West Development Agency and European development money, will provide a technology design, manufacturing and training facility aimed at local businesses and students.

Now nearing completion, it will also have on-site manufacturing equipment, testing facilities and training rooms.

The centre will provide local and regional employers with access to training in new skills for their workforce in new technologies.

Businesses will have access to applied research, new product development and the latest equipment aimed at assisting the next generation of manufacturers, where they will be able to view technology, understand how it works, and receive appropriate assistance to implement it.

Last month also saw the announcement of 420 jobs at Shuttleworth Mead business park as work on mortgage administration specialist Homeloan Management Ltds new base nears completion.

Coun Andy Tatchell, Burnley Borough Council's Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development said the technology centre would help put Burnley back on the map in terms of manufacturing.

He said: "This state of the art facility will put Burnley on the map as a leading edge in digital and manufacturing technology."