SIGNED, "sealed" and delivered!

That's a Shuttleworth company which has completed a contract to supply tunnel eyeseals for an extension of the Channel Tunnel rail link.

Ernest Platt (Bury) have manufactured two of the seals for the massive multi-million pound project.

And the company, which has been trading for the past 180 years, hopes to clinch a further order for four more of the rubber seals.

Mr Ian Cosens, sales director of the Whalley Road-based company, said: "Each of these seals are worth £5,000 to us and we are very hopeful of getting the contract for an additional four."

The rubber seals are vital to give key protection against possible subsidence in tunnels. Once boring begins, the seals are fitted to guard against water penetration and other possible mis-haps before the cutting machines move in.

The rubber seals manufactured by Ernest Platt (Bury) measure 8.5 metres in diameter and will be fitted around the tunnel walls.

They are made in three sections and then joined together using glue.

Mr Cosens added: "The extension of the rail link is between Folkstone and London."

Platt's is one of the best known names throughout Bury. It was originally established in the 1800s as a rubber merchants and mill furnishers.

William A. Platt started the humble business from his home in Walmersley Road, Bury, with the company initially trading under the W.A. Platt and Son name.

His skill in his field earned him, after a time, the nickname of "India Rubber Bill."

The company diversified, moving into the field of boiler/pipe and heating insulation.

William devised and manufactured his own insulation compounds in works behind his home.

As all factories and mills were steam driven at that time, this was a good period for this type of work.

In the late 1890s, until the First World War, all ships in the UK Navy were also steam powered and W.A. Platt and Son gained a lucrative and highly sought Admiralty contract to design and install the boiler pipes and heating on the fleet.

William Platt died in 1933, leaving the business in the hands of his son, Ernest, who passed away in 1951.

Wilfred Platt took over the helm and moved the business away from mill furnishings and more into the field of gasket manufacturing and sealing materials.

Platt's is now in its fifth generation and is still fiercely proud of its family-run status. The 20-strong company moved to Shuttleworth 12 years ago and has a very large local customer base and is a contacted supplier to many major national firms.

The Shuttleworth business has presided over a steady expansion around gasket manufacturing and sealing materials technology and now supplies a vast range of products for engineers.