THE Prime Minister declared that a new high level crossing in Warrington would be 'crucial' if the north west wants to become an economic powerhouse on his latest visit to the town on Friday.

David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne were at The Hut Group production facility, in Appleton Thorn, to hear first-hand plans on the company's £47.5million move to the Omega site - which is believed to be opening for business in November.

Mr Cameron also hinted at the possible introduction of a second bridge in the town - with plans set to be discussed with Warrington South MP David Mowat throughout the year.

The first development will bypass Bridge Foot from Chester Road to Slutchers Lane.

"It is really important that towns like Warrington have good infrastructure so they can fully benefit from the growth that we are seeing in the economy," he said.

"Work will be starting on the first bridge and it is a feather in David Mowat's cap to get that in place.

"There are discussions and potential options for a second bridge and we will be looking at that in the months ahead."

Mr Cameron also urged the Local Enterprise Partnerships of Cheshire and Warrington to make use of their 'extra resources' for the first bridge, and potentially a second.

The second would be another high level crossing of the ship canal, in addition to the Cantilever, and would further help mitigate the problems with traffic in south Warrington when the swing bridges are off.

Although talk of the new bridge was high on the agenda, Mr Cameron was keen to address another issue - job prospects for those in the town.

And despite the creation of around 2,000 jobs over the next three years by The Hut Group's new site, he labelled the closure of City Link's Warrington depot as 'disappointing' but remained defiant that jobseekers in the town have hope.

"There were attempts to try and save that business but it was not possible so what the Government is doing is to try to help people find work - that is where the Jobcentre comes in as they have the resources," he said.

"I can see from being here today there are jobs available. If you look at the Warrington constituency, the number of people on jobseeker's allowance is now around two per cent.

"There has been a big creation of jobs, more people are in work now than ever before and it shows there are jobs - but me must not be complacent, we must keep working at it."

Mr Cameron was quick to praise Warrington Borough Council, as well as Cheshire Police for ensuring the crime rate has dropped 17 per cent since his tenure begun.

But he did indicate the council should strive to do even more to ensure council tax can be kept low, while providing better services for the town.

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