Soft drinks company Pepsi-Cola plans to build a second manufacturing facility in Co Cork, creating up to 250 jobs. The company will invest close to £140 million (€178 million) in the development which will be located on a 20-acre site, near Carrigaline.

The new facility will supplement the existing Europe/Asia concentrate operations in Little Island, Co Cork.

Pepsi has agreed to acquire land from Cork County Council's land bank at Kilnagleary, Co Cork, where a number of light industrial units are already located.

It is anticipated that the new factory will provide approximately 100 jobs initially, with the figure rising to 250 over the next five years.

Mr Frank 0'Mahony, chief executive of Pepsi-International, Cork, said the announcement of a new facility was a major boost for Cork and indicated the trust Pepsi had in its Irish employees.

"We have a world class operation here in Little Island which is a great tribute to the quality of our workforce and to the relationships which have been established in Cork since we first set up."

The announcement of a new plant in Co Cork has been broadly welcomed in Carrigaline, where many locals have little choice but to travel to Cork city for work.

Fine Gael South Central TD, Mr Simon Coveney, said people in the town were very pleased with the news. "This is going to boost the local economy as well as providing quality and sustainable jobs for the area."

A Pepsi spokesperson said the new plant would not impact on the facility at Little Island, where the company had promised continued investment. It also said all 160 jobs there were secure. The plant opened in 1974 with an initial staff of 25.

The new plant will manufacture concentrates for the Irish and European markets for the company's range of soft drinks brands including Pepsi and 7UP.

The final go ahead on the project is conditional on approval from the government and the board of Pepsico, while the land sale was set to come before Cork County Council yesterday for approval.