A booming industrial park has scooped a double award win.

A marketing campaign to attract firms to the Oxford Industrial Park at Yarnton was named as one of the most innovative marketing campaigns of this year.

Then the park, which has already created almost 250 jobs in its first phase, was also voted best speculative industrial estate in the Development of the Year Award ceremony, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

Richard VenablesThe marketing campaign, based on a theme of "Crushed for Space?", used garlic presses, lemon squeezers and tins of sardines, which were sent out to more than 1,000 firms in a silver bubble wrap envelope.

Richard Venables, of agents FPD Savills, said: "It wasn't an unqualified success as one person rang to say a tin of sardines had exploded over his desk, but at least it attracted some attention."

Hi-tech firms have dominated the first phase lettings with the last remaining 20,000 sq ft unit currently under offer to a further hi-tech firm.

JDS Uniphase, now based at Thorney Leys Business Park, Witney, is taking five units, covering 46,000 sq ft, to manufacture fibre-optic equipment for the telecom and cable TV industries.

The firm, which has about 20,000 employees in 11 countries worldwide, is expecting to create up to 200 jobs at Yarnton over the next 12 months.

The second company is superconducting magnet maker Magnex Scientific, which has been based in Abingdon for 16 years. It is creating 20 jobs.

Magnex, which is based at the Abingdon Business Park, makes medical scanners and scientific research systems.

The clinical businesses has now been sold to IGE Medical Systems and the scientific business will continue as Magnex Scientific. It is building a 50,000 sq ft magnet manufacturing plant at Yarnton.

Magnex commercial manager Simon Pittard said: "The new plant will enable us to build a brand new, state of the art manufacturing complex that will be world class."

Also at the park is distribution company Intel.

The new 54,000 sq ft phase of development at the park will involve demolishing the former Southern Electric depot.