GIANT Five Valleys company Renishaw are set to breathe new life into the Stonehouse manufacturing community with a multi-million pound expansion to the former Automold site.

The company's move to the Stroudwater Business Park, announced on Thursday, has already been hailed by councillors and could potentially bring hundreds of new jobs to the area.

Delighted Renishaw chairman and chief executive Sir David McMurtry said the purchase of the Automold site was a sign of the continuing expansion of the company.

"This is essential to our business," he told the SNJ. "This will enable us to expand both our range of products and the number we make.

"It is great news for us as a Stroud-based company and we will continue to expand in the future."

Renishaw makes high-precision measuring devices and is one of the Five Valleys' biggest success stories, coming from humble beginnings in 1973 to a turnover of almost £130 million last year. In addition to its existing facilities in Woodchester and Wotton-under-Edge the group owns subsidiaries in more than 20 countries.

Stroud District Council leader Cllr Chas Fellows was quick to praise Renishaw's expansion, saying he hoped it would lead to more commercial investment in the Five Valleys.

"Any investment like that in the district is very good indeed," he said. "I hope such prestigious companies as Renishaw making investments here will be incentive for others to do the same."

Labour Cllr Chris Brine, ward councillor for Stonehouse at Ebley Mill and a Stonehouse Town Councillor, expressed his own pleasure at the move.

"I think it is very good news for Stonehouse and for the district," he told the SNJ. "It will be wonderful for the town to have a large employer like Renishaw come here - hopefully it can bring some new jobs to the area."