A CALL centre is set to expand in Nelson, creating new jobs in East Lancashire.

Touch Local, the UK's second largest online search directory, has one of its main offices in Burnley and announced today new jobs were on the way to its call centre in Nelson.

And a boss at the firm said the efforts of local workers had been instrumental in helping the company to expand.

The call centre in Nelson is the largest of its kind in the country.

The 20 new jobs will be created in the next three months and will take the workforce from 40 to 60.

Touch was the first company to offer pay-per-call to its users in the UK which lets businesses which are not online to advertise online without the need for a website.

The company also offers small, local businesses a full online package for a fraction of the cost it would normally take to set up a shopping site and lets shoppers buy from independent local businesses as well as larger chain stores.

Grant Muckle, sales director of Touch Group, said: "The call centre at Nelson is the largest call centre in the country that helps small businesses with their marketing needs.

"Without the efforts of the team there, Touch Local would certainly not be where it is today. Touch is all about serving the public, not only business people and consumers, but also from a work perspective.

"We're looking for new people to join our team in Nelson and by investing in this area we expect Touch Local to go from strength to strength. "