ST HELENS Council has joined forces with Lancashire Enterprises to try and secure the future of the seemingly-doomed Coats Viyella factory.

Original plans to find a buyer for the site on Warrington Road, Rainhill, to maintain production, now seem unlikely and an alternative strategy to secure the long-term future of the site is now being looked at.

Following a meeting between the council and Lancashire Enterprises, Councillor Mike Doyle, deputy leader of St Helens Council, confirmed: "We are now pursuing an alternative strategy to secure employment at the site and one initiative will be to raise capital for the purchase of the site. We believe that Coats Viyella has a social responsibility to be as accommodating as possible to help us secure an early purchase by releasing this very viable site.

"There is a highly-skilled workforce who have shown real commitment to the company. They even offered up their redundancy packages to keep jobs at the site. We will do our utmost to secure the long-term future for the factory and to create job opportunities."

Councillor Louise Ellman, vice-chair of Lancashire Enterprises, added: "We will be working very closely with St Helens Council to provide jobs and employment in this important area. We believe that this is a viable site and will be looking for a responsible attitude from Coats Viyella to aid us. The key to this is for Coats Viyella to show commitment and social responsibility."

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