BOLTON firm Leigh's Paints have landed a contract to keep Britain's cross-Channel ferries shipshape.

The Kestor Street company have won a lucrative order from P&O Stena Line to paint their entire fleet.

Decking out all 10 ships will eventually take a staggering 1.4 million litres of paint.

The contract is the latest success for the firm's thriving marine division, which specialises in "high performance" paints designed to withstand the rigours of life on the ocean wave.

The company is declining to reveal the precise value of the seven-year contract for commercial reasons, but it is thought to run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It caps a 25-year relationship with P&O Stena Line and marks the latest success for the marine department.

Leigh's managing director Dick Frost said: "Securing this contract against fierce competition from a number of strong multi-national paintmakers is great news for the company and Bolton.

"We hope this ground-breaking partnership will be the first of many for the company."

Famous vessels from the royal yacht Britannia to the world's largest sailing ship, the 407ft long Sedov, have carried the name of Leigh's Paints across the globe.

Even veteran submarine HMS Ocelot has been coated in the firm's products. Leigh's was founded in 1860 as a building and property development company and paint remained a sideline until the end of World War One.

The firm's famous Marine White protective paint for ships was first made in 1924. The company employs around 300 workers at its Bolton premises alone.

A key factor in securing the P&O Stena Line contract was meeting the ferry firm's environmental concerns.

Leigh's paints have been specially formulated to reduce solvent emissions and are lead free.

P&O Stena Link's Dover to Calais ships were among the first in the world to be provided with tin-free paints designed to cut down on barnacles and other clinging sealife. All tin-based paints will be banned from 2003. Here are some they painted earlier... OTHER unusual contracts won by Leigh's include providing the paint for:

The PlayStation ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach;

The Big Wheel on Blackpool's Central Pier;

London's historic Smithfield Market;

Hong Kong's new Chep Lap Hok airport.