A £30m grant to finance research into ‘super computing’ has been announced at Sci-Tech Daresbury by Chancellor George Osborne.

The Tory minister visited Daresbury Laboratory on Friday to announce the investment.

Speaking at the event he said: “It’s great to be back at Daresbury for me and to see how much the campus has developed.

“Our desire is for this to be the best place for science where the frontier of science is pushed out.

“That is going to have some benefits for the economy.

“The things we are developing here today are the technologies of tomorrow and they are going to support the economy of tomorrow.

“There isn’t a lot of money around so we have to be very smart about where we put it.”

Sci-Tech Daresbury is one of the Government’s enterprise zones, where research is carried out in partnership with major companies such as IBM, Intel and Unilever.

The £30m awarded to the campus has been drawn from the Government’s £600m science budget.

It will see £19million allocated to the Hartree Centre to finance research into High Performance Computing, developing technologies such as increasing the battery life for mobile phones and laptops.

And £11million of the sum will fund advancing the computer technology of the world’s largest radio telescope.

David Willetts, science minister, backed the grant.

He said it will create thousands of jobs in the area and drive up an estimated £150million of private sector investment.

“Daresbury is one of the world’s leading centre for high performance computing.

“The only rival for what happens here is in America.

“It makes me optimistic for the future of our country and it means jobs.

“It will help ensure that UK science and industry stay at the very forefront of research and development.”

  •  On Friday George Osborne also visited Latchford to view flood defence work being carried out by the Environment Agency.

The £23million project has been part funded by an £18m Government grant.

Lord Deighton, commercial secretary to the Chancellor, said: “This project is an excellent example of how investing in vital projects creates jobs and boosts the local economy.

"The Government has made infrastructure a priority and it's great to see we are successfully working in partnership with other organisations to deliver the infrastructure the UK needs."

Steve Moore, director of the North West Environment Agency, said: “We welcome the Chancellor’s visit as it as a great opportunity for him to see a large-scale flood defence scheme in construction.

“Warrington has been on the cusp of major flooding several times, and the weather we have experienced this summer highlights how essential this scheme will be.”

The EA says preliminary works are nearly finished in Victoria Park and along Knutsford Road, meaning building work is due to begin in Latchford.

This phase of construction is expected to be complete in May.

Construction will then start in Howley, Padgate, Woolston, Cinnamon Brow and Westy.