THE owners of a Darlington business park and former wool mill are planning on creating 300 new jobs in the town.

London-based Frogmore is converting tens of thousands more square feet of office space at Lingfield Point to try to attract a major business to the town.

Lingfield Point was originally a wool factory built as a flagship post-war manufacturing base by Paton and Baldwins.

The 107-acre site was next to the Stockton and Darlington railway, providing the factory with its own railway sidings.

By 1951, and when complete, it was one of the largest wool factories in the world. Sixty years later it was turned into a large business park and last year was bought by Frogmore Real Estate Partners.

The new office space is expected to be complete by May 2020 and work us underway to find a tenant for the large open plan space.

Frogmore says it is keen to take the award-winning Lingfield Point - which is home to major occupiers such as Student Loans Company, Capita and Wood Group - to the “next level”.

Patrick Matheson, Partner at Knight Frank Newcastle, said: “This new office is going to be very contemporary with exposed services and lots of natural light thanks to the north roof light design, creating a fantastic working environment.

"The single-floor layout makes it well suited to a customer service provider and possibly a company that is considering ‘North-shoring’ or ‘re-shoring’ its operation to make it more efficient.”

Greg Davison, Director at Cushman’s added: “For any occupier looking to locate their business in the UK regions, Darlington, and Lingfield Point in particular, offers a fantastic opportunity.

"It offers a strong labour pool, combined with an enviable life/work balance for staff.

"It is all within easy reach of London and the wider region via the East Coast mainline.”

Lingfield Point is next to the A66 trunk road, which links directly to the A1(M). It is also near the large new Amazon warehouse.