The business park will be built on the site of a former pit

The Bassetlaw Business Innovation Centre, located on the site of the former pit in Shireoaks near the Derbyshire border, is designed to help small businesses grow.

The funding for the project was announced on Monday, with almost �1m from the Nottinghamshire County Council, �1.4m from the European Regional Development Fund and �840,000 from the East Midlands Development Agency.

The business park is modelled after the Mansfield Innovation Centre, which is home to 26 hi-tech companies.

Pit closures

It is hoped the new business park in Shireoaks will attract more than 40 small businesses.

Other local companies could also benefit, by supplying goods and services to the area, an EMDA spokesman said.

Councillor Chris Winterton of Nottinghamshire County Council said: "Bassetlaw District, which has suffered from low wages for many years, will benefit from the centre and the spin-off companies that will be created from this initiative.

"This is really good news for Bassetlaw which has been hit hard by pit closures and a decline in manufacturing."

The park is scheduled to open in summer 2004.