AIRCRAFT parts firm CAV Aerospace has won a £100m five-year contract, which will establish the company as UK's market leader in its sector.

It will also result in the creation of 44 jobs at CAV, based in Consett, County Durham, and the company investing an initial £4.5m in its manufacturing facilities.

The contract, with Airbus, is to supply wing components, and establishes the company as the Centre of Excellence in the UK for the design and manufacture of aircraft spars and stringers.

The investment from CAV, which employs 325 people at its headquarters, is the first stage of a planned £14.8m expansion project across the group and its other bases in Leicester, Wales and Poland, in an attempt to boost turnover to £43m this year.

CAV has been working with Airbus since 1999, and has since become a key supplier. Every Airbus now in operation contains a component made in the North-East.

CAV is also expanding on the back of strong demand for its ice protection systems for aircraft, which have risen 200 per cent in the past three years.