A HYNDBURN councillor has insisted Accrington’s new bus station is built out of locally produced bricks, in a bid to save a failing factory.

Councillor Clare Pritchard says the council has a ‘moral obligation’ to ensure the town’s new station is built out of nori bricks, in a bid to support Hanson’s nori factory in Whinney Hill Road.

She also added that projects such as the new sixth form building planned for St Christopher’s High School, should also be on their list for production.

She said: "The council certainly has a moral obligation to support the local industry in Hyndburn in whatever way it can and I fully support efforts to promote Hanson’s, a company that is facing huge difficulties.

"We want our county councillors to take forward promoting local produce. Not only will this give Accrington an economic boost, it also makes sense on an environmental level as this will reduce the carbon footprint in Hyndburn."

The historic factory, which has been produced in the area for 120 years, was forced to close last October, resulting in 80 redundancies. The super-strength Nori brick was used to build the foundations of the Empire State Building and Blackpool Tower.

In a recent bid to save the factory, bosses at Hanson’s Building Products have handed out temporary contracts to around seven employees.

The firm will now be able to operate for a trial period of three months and Councillor Pritchard hopes the new Crawshaw Street station, currently being considered by the council’s planning department, will benefit from this.