A DEVELOPER is being sought for a multi-million pound business park planned for the outskirts of Darlington.

Considerable interest has been expressed in the Morton Palms development, to the south of the town centre, which it has been estimated will create 2,000 jobs.

Whoever takes over the site will be working in an area of Darlington which has benefited in recent years from investment by Orange, Morrisons, Darlington Building Society and B & Q.

Work, funded by Darlington Borough Council and One Northeast, is being carried out to create the basic infrastructure at the site.

The £1.5m work to complete the road network and provide basic services is scheduled to be completed by the end of May.

The new roads will link the business park, which is near the A66, directly to the A1M and A19.

Once the infrastructure is in place, it is hoped a developer will immediately move on to the site to turn it into a functioning business park.

The council is working to appoint a developer to create the 28,000 square metres of office space, sell off parts of the site to businesses and manage the whole area.

The business park is expected to attract significant new investment, create a great deal of employment and offer a home to new and expanding companies from throughout the region.

There has already been much interest in the potential of the site and the council hopes to have appointed a developer by the summer, with building work starting soon afterwards.

Councillor John Williams, leader of the council, said "When Morton Palms is completed it will make Darlington the gateway to the Tees Valley. It has the potential to attract £17m worth of private investment, and will offer quality jobs to people living in the whole of the region.

"It is also hoped that the development will stimulate further growth in that part of town. The site has excellent road, rail and air links, which has got to make it a powerful magnet to quality companies which, I'm sure, will bring well-paid jobs to the town.