TRIBUTES were paid to "great" local papers when the chairman of one of the UK's top newspaper groups opened a new £17 million printing centre today.
Newsquest, which is owned by the American Gannett company, hosted a reception to mark the official opening of a modern plant which now prints the Bolton Evening News, the Bury Times, Leigh Journal, Blackburn's Lancashire Evening Telegraph, and 16 other titles across Lancashire and Cheshire.
It replaces the facility in Cranfield Road, Lostock, which had printed the BEN and other newspapers since 1987.
Mr Jim Brown, Chairman of the Newsquest Media Group, told about 50 guests: "When one talks of Lancashire, we tend to think cotton, football and now technology.
"But, I would argue, much of its proud history must also lie with its so-sensible newspapers.
"The great papers of Bolton, Blackburn and Bury, to name but a few, have played their part in the protection and development of their communities."
Click HERE for background reports and pictures, including a history of the Bolton Evening News
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