MORE investment in technology has been made at a Bradford soft drinks factory which recently underwent a major two-year redevelopment programme.

Bosses say it underlines their commitment to the site.

Princes Soft Drinks has installed a new Ready To Drink bottling line at its site on Weaverthorpe Road, Tong, which employs more than 350 people. The new line produces 250ml and 500ml bottles - increasing capacity at the site and giving scope for further growth and development of new products.

The Bradford site is Princes’ largest soft drinks manufacturing plant producing more than 400 million bottles of fruit squash and carbonated soft drinks a year.

As well as supplying customer own brand soft drinks, the site also produces Jucee , the fourth largest UK squash brand by volume and the only squash brand that has no added sugar in any of its products.

Ruth Simpson, Princes corporate relations director, said: “We are absolutely committed to investing in our manufacturing sites and are continually reviewing our facilities to ensure their efficiency and ability to meet changing consumer needs.

“The installation of a new Ready to Drink bottling line opens up additional capacity to meet consumer demand for our products and to develop new ones and firmly cements our commitment to soft drinks production in Bradford.”

The latest investment follows a programme which saw £40 million being invested at Bradford, including the launch of a new on-site 340,000 sq ft warehouse and state-of-the-art ingredients processing centre.

The Bradford factory redevelopment and upgrade programme was completed in 2014 and introduced a series of improvements to increase capacity at the 25-acre site.

The new warehouse now houses all of the soft drinks produced before they are sent to supermarkets, convenience stores and wholesalers across the country, reducing the risk of transportation damage to products and meaning fewer trucks on the roads .

Liverpool-based Princes, which has owned the Bradford site since 1991, also invested in a new central syrup manufacturing plant which blends ingredients for squash and carbonated drinks site, along with a new effluent treatment plant.

Old office blocks and other redundant buildings were demolished to make way for the warehouse.

The main production building has been connected to the warehouse to convey products for storage and distribution without the use of vehicles, helping support the company’s environmental target to reduce road miles.

Ruth Simpson said that the redevelopment programme had ensured that the Bradford site, which is Princes' largest soft drinks factory, remained one of the major leading soft drinks production sites in the UK.