A PACKAGING firm has developed a revolutionary childproof blister pack (plastic strips of pills that you pop out through foil).

And thanks to soaring sales figures, the company has announced plans to expand.

TD Packaging is one of Europe's largest firms specialising in packaging medicines and nutritional supplements.

It has enjoyed a meteoric rise since being founded in Swindon in 1996 and now employs about 300 people at South Marston.

Four years ago, just 50 people worked there. But now the firm is soon to merge its three South Marston sites into one at Groundwell the former Wise's Bakery building.

It will also be adding extra production lines, meaning more staff will be taken on.

Commercial manager Svein-Erik Nilsen said: "It's been a tremendous success story.

"We've grown between 30 and 50 per cent each year in the last few years and we work with the big pharmaceutical companies like Glaxo and Cardinal Health.

"We started small in Swindon, then moved to South Marston and soon we're going to merge all three into a site at Groundwell.

"The bakery building is being refurbished and we are investing more than £3 million.

"It gives us the facility to produce the highest-quality goods."

The plan is to open the Groundwell site in May and there will be 19 packaging lines, doubling the current capacity.

A new development is the invention of child-resistant blister packs, which have just been patented and can be used for paracetamol and iron supplement products.

The pack has been designed to conform to forthcoming EU directives about childproof medicines and is rolled up, with the idea being that only an adult hand is big enough to wrap around it to unlock and unroll the pills.

TDP's turnover has risen from £2 million to £8.5 million in the last four years. And this year there are hopes that the profits will reach more than £12 million.

Mr Nilson said: "It's going well and has been year after year. We seem to be competing well against other competitors."

Cake company R&K Wise announced the closure of its two Swindon factories in October 2000, with the loss of 540 jobs.

The family firm, which supplied many high street shops including Marks and Spencer, was £5 million in debt and was bought out by Northern Foods, which transferred the business to factories in Oldham and Bolton.

R&K Wise had been independent since being established in 1938 and moved into Groundwell Road in 1993. The other factory was in Headlands Grove and had been built in 1955.