A new science park will be developed in Wiltshire thanks to a £10m investment from the government.

The Porton Science Park will be based near leading scientific institutions and will create more than 2,000 jobs over a ten year period.

The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership (SWLEP) fully supported the £10m bid to the Regional Growth Fund, led by a partnership between Wiltshire Council and a joint development company comprising Trebor Developments LLP and Wrenbridge Land Limited.

Chairman of the SWLEP, Paul Johnson said: “Wiltshire Council and Wrenbridge Trebor put together an excellent bid and we are delighted that they’ve been successful – congratulations to everyone involved. This is a significant investment in our region and Life Science is one of our priority areas for growth. This bid had our full, unqualified support but the hard work really starts now. We will be giving our full backing to the development of the investment offer to attract UK and international businesses. We will do all we can to ensure that this is a huge success for South Wiltshire.”

The Porton Science Park will be based near leading scientific institutions, the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) at the Porton Down site near Salisbury.

It will provide facilities for science and research based industries who wish to work alongside Dstl and HPA and could attract £70m of private sector investment in the next 10 years. The development is expected to attract high levels of investment from both the UK and foreign bioscience and healthcare.

The successful bid for £10m funding from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) will help kickstart the first of three phases of the project, creating the infrastructure for the planned 355,000 sq ft science park and a new 23,000 sq ft innovation centre.