THE refurbishment of a massive warehouse which was once part of the Walkersteel empire is set to create new jobs.

The 'Magnum' building in Walker Park off junction five of the M65 near Blackburn is being refurbished by Manchester-based property consultants King Sturge.

The 500,000sq ft building was half of the 1millionsq ft former steel warehouse developed by the Walker family in the 1970s.

It was then passed to Corus who announced late last year they were to cut down their operations in Blackburn and move to a smaller warehouse with the loss of around 50 jobs.

David Brooks, a partner at King Sturge, said he was hopeful jobs would be created as a result.

He said: "We are hoping to lease it as a whole as the market requirements for warehouse are getting bigger and bigger.

"We think it will appeal to retailers consolidating their operations, manufacturers or third party logistic firms.

"It's good news for the area as warehouse operations are becoming more labour intensive as whole so hopefully jobs will be created.

"These days companies are looking for large warehouses close to the motorway network and in an area with a cost effective and plentiful labour supply. All of which Magnum has."

The Magnum building will be available for occupation from the summer.