PEEL Ports has paid about £6m for a 46-acre site on the Manchester Ship Canal as it continues its aggressive expansion plans for the waterway.

It has bought the land and property at the former site of the Bridgewater Paper Company in Ellesmere Port from the administrators Ernst & Young.

The site, close to the Vauxhall factory, is near the western end of the ship canal, two miles from its start at Eastham Locks.

Peel already owns the 36-mile Ship Canal, which handles more than 6m tonnes of freight each year.

Andy Martin, head of estates at Peel Ports Mersey, said: “We are very excited by the potential of this site and there is a substantial opportunity for development and regeneration for the right customers.

“The location, which is logistically second to none, is highly suitable for a wide range of port-related uses including manufacturing, processing, energy generation or distribution.”

The administrators highlighted the 16,400 sq ft office building and 220,000 sq ft of warehousing as useful features on the site, although they described the majority of the existing production buildings as obsolete.

Peel Ports said it planned to engage with a number of potential tenants and users over the coming weeks to establish how to develop the site further. The site can be developed for many port-side uses including power generation, bulk cargoes and distribution centres.

Stephen Carr, head of business development at Peel Ports Mersey, said: “This acquisition fits in well with our strategy of continuing to develop Port of Liverpool and the Manchester Ship Canal as a key logistical hub for the UK, maximising the potential of 44 miles of waterfront, and allowing customers to deliver value from cheaper and greener access to the major population centres.

“The success of this strategy can be seen by the fact that, due to levels of demand from customers, we have recently doubled the capacity of our barge service from Liverpool to Irlam and points between.

“In addition, Peel last month secured planning permission for a port on the Ship Canal at Warrington, and there are plans for others at Port Salford and Port Wirral.”

Property giant Peel also has huge plans for Wirral Waters, a £4.5bn development planned for Birkenhead Docks, which will complement a similarly-ambitious scheme on the Liverpool side of the River Mersey.