A COMPANY based in Blackburn is hoping that sales of the new Band Aid 20 charity single will prove to be music to its ears.

For Deluxe Global Media Services, based at Whitebirk, is responsible for producing, replicating and packaging the disc, which goes on sale today.

The single, featuring chart stars including Daniel Bedingfield, Busted, Rachael Stevens and U2 legend Bono, has been made by Deluxe Global Media Services Ltd, at the former Philips factory in Philips Road.

The song, recorded at Air Studios in London, is a cover of the original 1984 Band Aid single 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' and will raise funds and awareness for Africa.

Half a million copies were produced at Deluxe Blackburn before being distributed to music shops across the country.

Stuart Glendining, a planner at the Deluxe factory, said: "The initial order was for half a million copies and this is a larger order than usual with it being a charity single and because they expect it to get to number one.

"Orders are usually for around 300,000 so this is a big order.

"Basically, what we do here is mould the press, put a nice picture on the top and pack it.

"That is pretty much it in simplistic terms without going into the technical CD replicating process.

"Once they leave here they are sent to a distribution centre in Milton Keynes, from where they are supplied to the retailer."

Deluxe's Blackburn plant was acquired from Universal Music in 2002 and is one of four optical disc facilities throughout Europe.

Together it represents the largest independent CD and DVD replicator in Europe.

Deluxe operates 363 days a year and has a capacity to manufacture more than 1.5million discs a day.