A GREATER Manchester metal processing firm has secured a £300,000 investment to buy a baling machine which turns cars into cubes of scrap in less than 40 seconds.

Maxilead Metals, of Tyldesley, has bought the Belgium-built equipment after receiving funding from Yorkshire Bank in Manchester.

The family-owned firm, which turns over £15m, collects and processes metal from engineering companies, local authorities, skip hire outfits and other sources.

Most of it is exported, melted and reused.

Director Tom Clay said: "This new machine will give us much larger capacity for vehicle crushing and the processing of other scrap metal."