THE man behind a 10-year facelift of Rawtenstall today revealed the scheme could see a massive £100million invested in the town.

Property developers Hurstwood Group, based in Rossendale, are masterminding plans to transform the town centre, including an 11-acre site in New Hall Hey. The scheme will see development in three separate phases which will include leisure projects, retail, offices, housing and restaurants, as well as five acres of land away from New Hall Hey.

Today Stephen Ashworth, chairman and managing director of Hurstwood, revealed the project will see £75-£100million invested in Rawtenstall, double original estimates, in the biggest project ever' to take place in the town.

Previously the scheme, for land owned by Hurstwood, was reckoned to cost about £50million.

Mr Ashworth said Hurstwood would invest the bulk of the money.

And the businessman revealed he hoped the scheme could attract more development investment - both commercial and residential - from cities like Manchester, bringing the £100million boost to the town.

He said: "Rawtenstall is vastly underrated. It has got massive potential. You can get to Manchester in 25 minutes and you are still in a semi-rural area.

"It's a nice place to live and it's attracting the wealth out of Manchester. People can commute very easily and live in a high quality area.

"It will transform the town."

The development will see about £50million spent over the first five years of the development, then £50million spend on the second and third phases, he added.

Currently Hurstwood has two planning applications in for housing with Rossendale Council, and is in talks with large retailers to attract firms into the area in a move which is hoped could create up to 1,000 jobs.

The New Hall Hey plans were given the go-ahead by Rossendale councillors in April.

Along with the Rawtenstall scheme, Hurstwood is also involved in plans to regenerate the Weaver's Triangle area of Burnley, and the firm also owns properties in Blackburn including the former police station and the old Apollo cinema.

Council leader Duncan Ruddick said: "This really is an exciting time for Rossendale and the spin-off benefits of the developments will be tremendous for the borough."