THE owner of a caravan park has hooked up with a Furness abattoir, safeguarding dozens of jobs and helping to beef up business at the meat wholesalers, reports Beth Broomby.

RP Winder, which had depots in Ulverston and Blackpool, suffered heavy losses because of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, forcing the Lancashire abattoir into liquidation this July.

A month of uncertainty followed for the 32 staff at the Ulverston abattoir, but this week brought a change in fortune as the company announced that the managing director of South Lakeland Caravans Ltd., John Morphet, had signed a deal to buy a half share in the abattoir for an "undisclosed" sum.

The meat company is now trading as RE Winder South Lakeland Ltd.

Mr Morphet's last major business investment in the area was in January last year when he snapped up White Cross Bay holiday park at Windermere for £10 million.