The proposed investment will see a new state-of-the-art Convenience Foods facility being built within the company's Grantham site, creating over 150 additional jobs in the local area.

Moy Park's CEO Nigel Dunlop said: "This proposed new development will transform our Grantham site into one of the most efficient state of the art operations of its kind in the UK and Europe.

"It will allow us to continue to successfully grow in line with market opportunities and develop our Convenience Foods division.

"In order to further enhance our innovation and customer service, strengthen our competitive position and build upon our success in this sector, we plan to consolidate our Grantham and Wisbech Convenience Foods operations to deliver a more streamlined structure for the business. We are commencing consultation with all the affected staff regarding these proposed changes.

"As part of this major investment it is proposed that Wisbech will be repositioned as a Cooked Sliced Meat facility. Full consultations on this change will start immediately with all employees and if the proposal is confirmed the affected employees will be offered a guaranteed option of full redeployment to other manufacturing sites within the group."

Plans for the new facility at Grantham would see capacity increase by over 25% using the latest environmentally friendly state of the art technology.

Moy Park's Executive Director for Convenience Foods and New Business Tony O'Neill said: "In the current economic climate this proposal is good news for Grantham.

"The new development could create 150 jobs at the factory and help secure the future of over 700 current jobs on the site.

"This investment will help us increase capacity and develop new and innovative products under both our own brand and for our customers in the UK retail and foodservice sectors.

"It is proposed that the initial stages of the new development at the Grantham site would be operational for the summer season."