BURTONWOOD Industrial Estate could undergo a £15,000 transformation thanks to a new partnership.

Businesses based at the park off Phipps’ Lane have joined forces with parish councillors, police and Warrington Borough Council to set up Burtonwood Business Watch.

The group hopes to install new security measures including secure fencing, better lighting and CCTV cameras to help create a safer, more attractive environment and tackle the problem of nuisance youths.

Videos of teens jumping on roofs, climbing walls and fighting on the estate have previously appeared on YouTube.

Burtonwood community support officer David Brownlee helped form the group following talks with the Burtonwood Industrial Centre Committee, Clr Terry O’Neill (Burtonwood – LAB) and David Barlow, the council’s business crime reduction officer.

He believes simple solutions such as new signs and anti-vandal paint could be the answer.

He said: “It is pivotal that we got this meeting off the ground and it is thanks to everybody’s hard work that we have pulled this together.

“When a site looks secure it seems to deter people from going on there.”

Andrew Abbey, Burtonwood Industrial Centre committee chairman, has run his vegetable processing operation James Abbey & Son on the estate since 1987.

He said: “The industrial estate was in a terrible state and we didn’t have enough security on there.

“We have raised £8,000 and the council gave us £7,000, so that with the group we now have. improving the estate is achievable.

“Not every person on the industrial estate has joined the scheme, which is a shame.

“But if the improvements are seen to make a difference I hope they will also get involved.”

Clr O’Neill hopes the project will also make the park more attractive to new businesses.