THE nuclear power design and construction teams that arrived in Knutsford in 1995 laid the foundations of a series of Gas Cooled Graphite Moderated nuclear power stations.

A business which saw many billions of pounds pass through the town - up to today when The Guardian reports local business attempts to sell Knutsford.

One factor, which established Knutsford's design of a gas reactor producing steam of the same quality as a coal or oil burning power station, was the close-knit design, construction and commissioning teams that at the outset were an average age of 26 years.

They established the UK preferred design of gas reactor AGR at Hinckley Point B, Bridgewater, Somerset and Hunterston B in Scotland. Subsequently, Secretary of State for Energy, Tony Benn, ordered from Knutsford two more AGRS for Heysham and Torness in Scotland near Edinburgh.

How many readers know how Tony Benn played a part in Knutsford's economic history?

The new era of nuclear electricity will probably rely on the Pressurised Water Reactor similar to Sizewell B which local Knutsford design teams had spent many years developing.

BOB INGHAM

Woodlands Crescent

High Legh