A £9 MILLION rail transport and off-loading facility will be officially opened today, Wednesday, at Brunner Mond's Winnington site.

It has been designed to ensure the efficient transport of limestone from Derbyshire to Northwich by rail rather than road.

Keith Hill MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, will open the facility.

A fleet of state-of-the-art wagons will carry almost a million tonnes of limestone each year, saving about 1.5 million lorry journeys through rural Cheshire over the next 10 years.

Limestone from the Peak District is a key raw material used by Brunner Mond in the production of soda ash.

Brunner Mond's Chief Executive, David Wertheim said: "We are delighted to have been able to secure and improve the delivery of one of our vital raw materials."