500 jobs could be created at former Alcan site in Northumberland

Plans to redevelop the former Alcan smelting plant, at Lynemouth, Northumberland, could create hundreds of jobs.

Harworth Estates Investments Ltd, the company which bought the site in 2015, wants to create an 'employment park' which would be home to several businesses.

They estimate that this would lead to around 500 more people being employed on the site - where 100 people currently work.

One of South East Northumberland's biggest employers, the Alcan aluminium smelter closed in May 2012, with the loss of more than 500 jobs.

Its owner, Rio Tinto, blamed the high cost of energy in the UK.

The closure brought to an end 40 years of smelting in Northumberland.

The new plans will go before Northumberland County Council’s strategic planning committee on Tuesday.