THE go-ahead has been given for a £5m extension to a warehouse at a recycled paper mill in Carrington.

Trafford’s planning committee agreed that owner SAICA can extend the storage facility by more than 7,300 sq m at the £300m plant on Manchester Road, which created 90 jobs when it opened last year.

The mill uses recovered papers to produce 450,000 tonnes of recycled containerboard in year - enough paper to cover the 196-mile distance from the plant to London every three hours.

The extra warehouse storage will mean the plant will make 3,400 fewer delivery trips a year to a warehouse in Trafford Park, reducing traffic on the roads.

It will also enable the mill - owned by Spanish firm SAICA - to increase the range of paper types it produces.

Planning committee deputy chairman, Cllr Dan Bunting, said of the mill: “This is a welcome new contribution to the borough. It has been an excellent facility.”

Business and energy minister, Michael Fallon officially opened the mill in April.

Its opening marked the return of paper making to the area, which in 1848 was referred to as being the oldest industry in neighbouring Partington.