A £17 million investment has ushered in a new era in the history of the Bolton Evening News and some of its sister papers.

Newsquest's purpose-built printing centre on the Wingates Industrial Estate at Westhoughton replaces the facility in Cranfield Road, Lostock which has operated successfully since the printing of the BEN was transferred from Mealhouse Lane in 1987.

Newsquest, which owns the Bolton Evening News and more than 300 other titles throughout the UK, stayed true to Bolton when it came to deciding on a site for the production of two evening newspapers (the BEN and the Lancashire Evening Telegraph) and 17 other titles in Lancashire and Cheshire.

The chance to build a modern printing plant with easy access to the motorway network made the decision to stay in Bolton an easy one to take.

Bolton Council was delighted when Newsquest took one of the last available plots to join about 50 other industrial concerns on the industrial park.

Wingates, which is now up and running, was being opened formally today at a ceremony attended by local dignitaries and senior representatives of Newsquest.

The guest of honour was 86-year-old Marcus Tillotson, the last member of the founding family to be directly involved with the Bolton Evening News.

These days the paper -- established in 1867 -- is part of a world-wide operation which continues to believe passionately in the need for local newspapers.

Newsquest, formed through a management buy-out of Reed Regional Newspapers in 1996, was acquired by the American Gannett company in mid-1999. Gannett is an international news and information company which publishes 99 daily newspapers in the USA, including USA Today -- the nation's largest-selling daily newspaper.

The company also owns more than 200 non-daily publications and 22 television stations throughout the US.

A piece of America is also at the heart of the new printing operation at Wingates.

The double-width Goss Metroliner press which is now in action in Bolton was used for about 20 years to produce the famous Washington Post -- the newspaper which revealed the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s.

Newsquest bought the press two years ago and transferred it to Wingates. Everything has been completely stripped down in a major refurbishment programme and the latest computer, water and ink systems contribute to a modern press capable of printing more than two million copies per week.

It has a fully-automated control system and the frames are all that remains of the original. The new centre has double the capacity of Lostock and will allow faster production, more colour and increased pagination -- all factors which are good news for readers and advertisers. A distinguished Newsquest newspaper from the Lake District -- the Westmorland Gazette -- is set to be printed at Wingates by the end of the year.