Lancashire contractor Barnfield Construction is understood to have been lined up to carry out the steel shed construction works worth around £6m.

The plant will allow the glass giant to produce high performance, low emissivity glazing products – complementing its Pilkington K Glass and solar control glass.

These ranges are currently produced in Sweden and Germany, so the new facility is expected to reduce transport costs and help lower carbon emissions caused by shipping the glass.

Pilkington’s also received the go-ahead from St Helens Council’s planning committee to demolish several structures within the 56-hectare site.

The Cowley Hill Works site contains a number of large dated industrial buildings, tall chimneys and derelict land.

The new coating line will become operational in October 2012 and will enable the company to provide customers with high performance, low emissivity glazing products – complementing its well established Pilkington K Glass and solar control glass.