THE arrival of a new conference centre and luxury hotel on the outskirts of Blackburn will take a step forward on Monday when bosses begin recruiting staff.

Dozens of jobs are set to be created when work on transforming the dilapidated grade-two listed Stanley House in Mellor Brook ends next month.

Bosses involved in the venue -- from Mellor-based Leehand, which also owned the Feilden's Arms in Mellor Brook -- hope that Stanley House, which sits on a hill above the A677 in Mellor, will be open by September offering 12 luxury bedrooms, a restaurant and state of the art conference centre.

Jobs available at the recruitment day include banqueting and bar supervisors, cocktail bar staff, bar managers, receptionists, food and beverage controllers, commis chefs, kitchen porters, banqueting porters, restaurant waiting staff, maintenance staff, night managers, porters, housemaids and an accounts clerk.

Several million pounds has been spent on the project after bosses spotted a gap in the market for a top-quality facility.

Stanley House is located just a few hundred yards from the site of the old County Hotel which closed three years ago. Since then, Blackburn has lacked a top-class hotel with conference facilities.

Originally, celebrity chef Nigel Smith was also due to be involved in the project, but he has since left the project to follow new plans.

Liz Jones, head of sales and marketing, said: "We've had a great response from people so far about the venue.

"People were trying to book it for their wedding even before we'd started the renovation work."

Publicity for the project began in March when two signs simply reading 'sh' appeared on the roadside. Then, 50 clay sheep appeared in a field, again spelling 'sh.'

The sheep created such an interest that they began to disappear -- and re-appeared in places such as sixth form college common rooms.

People interested in the jobs should attend the recruitment day at the Feilden's Arm, in Mellor Brook, from 10am until 6pm.