A FACTORY of football fans is hoping to net an increase in production after naming its machines after Blackburn Rovers players.

And the East Lancashire Box Company even persuaded Turkish midfielder Tugay to officially christen the latest addition to its squad.

The new glueing machine, imported from Turkey, has joined machines named after Ewood legends Alan Shearer and Colin Hendry at the works in Spring Street, Rishton.

But according to the firm Shearer has become outdated, and in need of substitution.

So the brand new Omega glueing machine, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, was shipped from Duran Machinery in Istanbul.

Peter Ingham, sales director and co-proprietor of the firm, said: "In the last year we have upgraded the factory and we have spent about £1.5million by buying two machines. Now we are a state-of-the-art company.

"We have 11 different sorts of machines from printing to cutting to glueing. It became a tradition to name the machines after Rovers players.

"The first one we named was Shearer when that came. Then there is a machine called Hendry."

The firm is now in its 25th year and has a turnover of about £3million, and employs 43 local staff.

Even the Burnley supporters have had no objection to the practice of naming machines after Rovers players.

And Mr Ingham has nothing but praise for Tugay himself, who spent time at the factory signing autographs.

He added: "It just adds a bit of sport to the factory. Even on the work sheet it is called Tugay.

"Tugay was fantastic, he couldn't have been nicer.

"He arrived here and spent time talking to people signing shirts and posing for pictures.

"He even waited until the first box came off the new machine and signed it. It's now in my office."