SHE might be the Prime Minister's wife but Cherie Blair is still a "lassie from Lancashire".

Mrs Blair returned to Leigh and her North West roots to open what is believed to be the world's largest Indian food factory, Patak's new £18 million building -- which could create 50 new jobs in the next 18 months.

Dignitaries including MPs Andy Burnham and Ian McCartney, Wigan's Mayor Cllr John Hilton and council leader Lord Peter Smith gathered in a packed marquee to watch the PM's wife unveil a plaque officially opening the new factory.

Despite the blustery weather -- it was so windy the marquee' chandeliers were swinging -- Mrs Blair remained impeccably groomed, dressed in a smart business suit with a panel of a satin pattern of flowers running down the back of her jacket.

Mrs Blair said: "I am particularly pleased to be in the North West, my home region. I always say I am a 'lassie from Lancashire' as I was born in Bury and brought up in Merseyside."

Patak's owner's Meena and Kirit Pathak gave Mrs Blair a guided tour around the massive factory -- the size of six football pitches -- before they all feasted on an Indian buffet lunch.

Children from Chowbent School at Atherton, were introduced to Mrs Blair as competition winners who had designed a collage made out of spices, showing faces of the world.

Their reward for beating 75 other entries was a cheque for £500.

Mrs Blair said it was good to see Leigh, a once prosperous town that sometimes had "lost out" because of economic conditions, with such a huge new development in its midst. The Leigh factory has 248 employees and stands on part of what was the Parsonage Colliery site.

She said: "It is great to see it now picking itself up and carrying on, particularly on this land which used to be a colliery."

She paid tribute to Leigh people by saying they are a community; "where people have always took pride in hard work and loyal service."

Mrs Blair met Pataks' co-owner Meena Pathak in 1999 when she awarded her with the business corporate award at the Asian Women's Achievement Awards.

Kirit Pathak, chairman and chief executive of the family company said: "We are extremely proud and honoured that Cherie Booth was able to spare time out of her busy schedule to open our new site in Leigh. The factory is the culmination of many years of hard work and signals an exciting new era for the business."

This week's grand opening was a far cry from Patak's humble beginnings in 1956 when it all began in a small domestic kitchen in rented accommodation in Kentish Town, North London.

Kirit Pathak used to deliver all his products to shops in London and Birmingham in an Austin Mini Estate car and used to fill around 300 jars a day with a funnel and a teaspoon.

But all the hard work has paid off as annual sales of Patak's Indian sauces, snacks, chutneys, pickles, poppadums and breads now top £50 million.

After the opening Mrs Blair visited Lowton Labour Club a private Labour Party members-only meeting.