A FAMOUS spa town will be hoping to muscle its way back into the bottled water market after launching its own branded product yesterday.

Affluent Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, was at its height in the Victorian era, when the weal-thy would travel from around the country to socialise and to take the waters.

The advent of new medicines meant the tradition died out and the town's spa heritage became little more than a sideshow, now secondary to a burgeoning conference and exhibition trade.

However, community leaders are hoping the official opening of a new mineral water bottling plant on the town's Harlow Hill yesterday will herald a new era, putting Harrogate's name on supermarket shelves and restaurant tables around the world.

The project was pioneered by a partnership between Harrogate Borough Council and the private sector.

Harrogate Spa Water Ltd - formed by a consortium of businesses - now extracts, bottles and markets the mineral water, although the local authority still owns the land.

"The product is truly superb, and we are already attracting significant interest and commitments from major hotel, restaurant, and supermarket chains throughout the UK," said chief executive Ian Bray.

The development of the factory on a green field site adjacent to the town's Cardale Woods led to friction between the council and some residents who claimed the plant would ruin the area.

However, the council leader, Councillor Geoff Webber, preferred to concentrate on the positive aspects of the new factory, which has created 15 new jobs.

"While marketing and exploiting Harrogate spa water is being left to the consortium's particular expertise and skills, the council is keen to give them every possible support and opportunity to promote their product," he said.

"I am confident the name of Harrogate and bottled water will become synonymous once again."