Techno goldrush boost for Cambridge

Cambridge is set to become the boom city of 21st-century Britain, with its population growing by more than 40 per cent along with an influx of hi-tech industry led by Microsoft, the giant international computer firm founded by Bill Gates.

Mr Gates is planning to set up a multi-million-pound research campus as a joint project with Cambridge University. It will be Microsoft's first electronics research facility outside the US.

The university itself is planning a massive expansion on a new 60-hectare site in the west of the city, which will house many of the science faculties. It is the largest building project the city has ever seen.

At the same time the city is preparing to give the go-ahead for 14,000 new homes to be built in the next 20 years, adding up to 40,000 to the population.

The expansion has alarmed sections of the community who have formed a "Cambridge is Full" campaign against increasing traffic and crowded schools.

The transformation has resulted from the university's ability, in the past 20 years, to bridge the gap between academic research and business. Since Cambridge Science Park was set up by Trinity College in 1975, the city's hi-tech sector has grown to 600 firms and 19,000 jobs. Cambridge now has only 3 per cent unemployment.

John Durrant, chair of the city council planning sub-committee and a former mayor, said: "Cambridge is at the forefront of development. With the emphasis on research and development there is always something new happening here."

n Oxford University has resurrected plans for a pounds 40m business school despite earlier concerns over alleged involvement in arms dealing of Wafic Said, a Syrian businessman who has pledged pounds 20m to the scheme.