Bosses of a north Shropshire industrial estate are bucking the economic downturn by splashing out almost £300,000 on a range of improvements.

Work is under way on a £220,000 project to replace the entrance road to the Wem Industrial Estate with a new, wider one complete with pavements and street lighting.

Other improvements carried out to date have cost £65,000, with repairs and renewals to the existing drainage carried out and new storm water gratings and non return valves for stopping the back flow of sewage installed.

Bill Nevett, estate manager, is overseeing the replacement of the old entrance road.

He said: “The estate has pro-active owners who are willing to invest heavily in the future and under my guidance money is being spent on all the right things to improve the quality of the work environment for the tenants and their business clients.

“This obviously is a boost for Wem town in both its image and its economy, it will help Wem to become more prosperous in the future.

“A great deal of money has been invested and facilities have been improved, from relatively small things – a Royal Mail post box being installed for the convenience of the businesses on the industrial estate to the major works on the infrastructure and the fitting of high tech security cameras.”