Work has begun on a multi-million-pound Enterprise Zone development which will create over a thousand jobs in Stoke-on-Trent. 

The Chatterley Valley West development in Newcastle-under-Lyme will see major private sector investment, with an additional £3.7million funding through the Kidsgrove Town Deal and a £3.5million investment by Staffordshire County Council.

The brownfield site just off the A500, which could create up to 1700 jobs, will be one of the biggest business developments in Stoke-on-Trent in decades. 

When the site is complete, it could release total business rates of more than £2.5million a year. 

Until March 2041 these business rates will be wholly retained in the local area and can be used to help fund further regeneration schemes. 

Staffordshire County Council is working closely with Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and the developer, Harworth. 

Andrew Blackshaw, COO at Harworth Group, said: "Our Chatterley Valley development, located in the heart of the Ceramic Valley Enterprise Zone, will meet growing industrial and logistics occupier demand in Staffordshire, supporting new jobs and investment in the area. 

"Drawing on our long track-record and expertise in creating sustainable places where people want to live and work, we look forward to working with local stakeholders to progress this exciting new development."

Staffordshire County Council's deputy leader, Philip White, said: "Chatterley Valley is providing us with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unlock a major parcel of disused industrial land, close to strategic transport links. 

"It will enable existing businesses to expand and for new ones to invest in Staffordshire, from across the UK and internationally.

"As a key site on the A50/A500 corridor, demand for industrial and logistics space here is expected to be strong."