RESEARCHERS at Bolton Institute have been awarded £115,000 by the Department of Trade and Industry to help with a major project.

The Fire and Heat Materials Research Team is developing the next generation of high-performance, flame-retardant technical yarns.

The project, worth a total of £230,000, will involve the Institute working with Interface Yarns, a subsidiary of Interface Fabrics, their principal filament yarn supplier McCleery Yarns Ltd, and a manufacturer of contract furniture, CGI Office Furniture (UK) Ltd.

They aim to develop a flame-resistant technical polypropylene yarn which will have a greater fire barrier performance than current products. If the project is a success, the fabric produced could be used everywhere from car seats to furnishings.

Prof Dick Horrocks, the director of research, said: "Polypropylene has been the fastest-growing fibre of recent years because of its high strength and wear resistance, coupled with its low price.

"A major drawback is its relatively poor fire performance and this project will address this." The Fire and Heath Research team will be based in the Institute's new Centre for Materials Research and Innovation, part of a £17 million redevelopment project at the Deane Campus.

Dr Sheng Zhang, who arrived at the Institute in 1999 as a visiting academic from Beijing Municipal Chemical Industry Research Institute, will head the project team.

He said: "The success of this project will need the co-operation of not only the related companies, but also the staff in Bolton Institute. I hope we can deliver an excellent result in two years."