EXPLOSIVES may soon be manufactured and stored at Trecwn if a licence is granted by Pembrokeshire County Council.

Trecwn (ETI) Ltd plans to take over approximately one third of the former MOD site, near Fishguard, to manufacture explosives quarry products.

A spokesperson for Trecwn (ETI) said: "In the near future we will be seeking applications from those interested in working at the site. We expect to initially employ around 25-30 local people."

He said the products involved were very safe and used the latest technologies in chemical ingredients and production techniques.

The products being manufactured are organic and biodegradable, and are extremely safe for all aspects of transportation.

The company will require lorry drivers, site workers and security staff.

Trecwn (ETI) is currently in discussions with various local companies and is considering transporting its product by air, sea, road and rail. It also plans on providing training to the quarrying industry.

Trecwn was once the largest site in Europe for storing ammunition and at its peak employed 1,800 workers.

It closed in 1995, resulting in the loss of 500 jobs and the 1,000-acre site and 58 bomb proof tunnels being abandoned.

It is believed that the facility at Trecwn, which is state-of-the-art, is the first and only one in Europe to be licensed under the new, stricter regulations that came into force this year.

Alwyn Luke, county councillor for Scleddau, which covers Trecwn, said: "This is very much in its infancy and there are numerous projects for Trecwn. This is just one of them. "I think this will be good news for the area and Health and Safety has no qualms in giving a licence.

"If anything should happen, all these tunnels are very much underground and out of sight and at least two to three miles from properties in the area. I don't honestly think the area has any other use - it is what the tunnels were created for."