IT'S in the bag! That's Bury-based Vacuum Pouch Company which has solved a document storage problem for The Royal Bank of Scotland.

As many businesses know, reducing the space requirement and costs of long-term storage and preservation of legal and financial documents is a considerable challenge.

Now, in answer to this, the Royal and Vacuum Pouch have pioneered a novel archive system at the bank's mortgage centre.

There were several issues to address, given that mortgage documents are held at the centre for many years.

Most are bulky, exposed to atmospheric deterioration, attack by paper bugs and liable to harbour dust and cause discomfort to staff.

And on top of this, facility costs were also high due to the need to carefully regulate the internal environment. But now, vacuum packing has provided an effective solution for The Royal Bank of Scotland.

Files are reduced to around a third of their original volume and are cleaner and easier to handle.

Exclusion of air removes any possibility for atmospheric deterioration and kills insects. The sealed packages are totally protected from moisture and even against flood or sprinkler burst.

The Vacuum Pouch Company, based in Leigh Street, Walshaw, are suppliers of top quality vacuum pouches, primarily to the food industry.

Its complete service also includes the supply of high efficiency vacuum machines, materials, training and service back-up.

However, a full range of materials is available with differing barrier and mechanical properties.

Their sealing bars can be date stamped or imprinted with security codes to deter tampering.

Due to the high cost of storage space and the need to seek higher levels of efficiency and security, the Bury company is helping spread the message that vacuum packing makes sense in most situations.

And other organisations such as Abbey National and Railtrack have also recognised the benefits.