JACK Straw made a special visit to a flood-ravaged textile mill and praised staff for helping the business to an amazing recovery.

Dutton Carpets' Griffin Mill in Mill Hill was submerged in 10 feet of water on Friday June 14 placing the jobs of the 130-strong workforce in jeopardy.

But the company is now back at 80 per cent production after a round-the-clock salvage operation by workers.

John Wright, the company's managing director, said the jobs were now safe and that the situation had gone from "devastation to jubilation".

He was phoned by Mr Straw after the Blackburn MP read about the company's plight in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

Yesterday the Foreign Secretary was given a guided tour of the mill by management. As he walked around he met staff who told him about the devastation the freak storm caused when around 56 mm of rain fell in just 45 minutes.

Dutton management estimate that the floods caused around £2 million worth of damage.

"I was very shocked to learn of the scale of the damage," said Mr Straw, "but it is clear that the staff of Dutton Carpets have done brilliantly to turn the business around."

Mr Straw also met bosses from other nearby businesses who were affected by the floods. He has promised to take up their case and help obtain flood defences so the situation never happens again.

Mr Wright said Mr Straw's presence had given everyone a boost. "He phoned me himself and said whatever he could do to help he would. I told him the best thing he could do was come up to the site. We really appreciate it because we know how busy he is. I am so proud of the workers. It was looking like it would knock us out of business because we couldn't cope if production had stopped for more than seven days."