WORK has finished on a multi-million pound development at Bury College.

The 44-week project, carried out by contractor Eric Wright Construction, included the design and building of a four-storey £2.8 million extension to the existing Enterprise Centre on Market Street.

This was formerly the site of the Bury Times, before the newspaper group moved to Bolton five years ago - to the premises of its sister paper The Bolton News.

Pioneering facilities are to provide college students with 14 purpose-built classrooms, two social learning spaces seminar rooms, two meeting rooms and five offices, as well as state-of-the-art conference and lecture amenities.

The Enterprise Centre will run higher-level skills study programmes including training programmes for employers, undergraduate courses and advanced apprenticeships, which will equip students with the skills required by business.

Designed by Seven Architecture Limited, the training facility is built to the highest standards of environmental performance, helping to boost energy efficiency and minimise pollution.

The completion of the works followed the successful building of two previous phases delivered by Bamber Bridge based Eric Wright Construction, which comprised a new £4.6 million five-storey teaching facility and £2.1 million two-storey construction skills centre.

John Wilson, managing director of Eric Wright Construction, said: “We were delighted to have been re-appointed as the contractor to complete this latest phase of works, which will change the face of higher education in the town.

“With much of the work taking place during term time, site segregation and logistics management were imperative to ensure the existing campus remained operational.

“Bury College has an excellent reputation and these facilities will help boost its current offering and maximise learning opportunities for years to come.”

Keith Platts, executive director resources for learning at Bury College, added: “Eric Wright Construction have provided us with a superb building which will enable the college to offer a high quality learning and training experience to employers and students.”