A NORTH-EAST engine maker is not renewing the contracts of scores of temporary workers.

Cummins, in Darlington, has confirmed 40 staff will leave their posts at the end of the month.

Bosses told The Northern Echo the move was planned after previously increasing workforce levels to deal with a rise in orders from buyers ahead of new emissions legislation.

They added the staff were originally expected to leave in September, but were retained for an extra month until demand eased.

In December last year, the engine manufacturer revealed more than 100 temporary workers would not have their contracts renewed due to an expected drop in orders.

However, the company confirmed its Yarm Road plant still employs about 700 staff in its engine division, with more than 100 in its sister exhaust arm.

A spokesman said: “From February onwards, the company hired temps to support the additional orders received for the run up to the new industrial emissions, which came in on October 1.

“It was always planned for them to leave end of September, when the forecast returned to previous levels.

“We managed to keep them for an additional month, until the end October, based on demand.”

Earlier this year, The Northern Echo revealed Cummins was powering Europe’s drive to cut bus emissions by supplying cleaner engines to manufacturer VDL for vehicles in Germany, Belgium and Finland.

Its greener Euro 6 engines, which are designed to deliver better fuel economy, will be used in more than 200 buses by Germany’s largest operator, Berlin Transport Authority.

It said a further 120 engines will drive Belgium’s De Lijn hybrid buses, which switch off the engine at stops, with 19 engines running Pohjolan Liikenne vehicles in Helsinki, which are the country’s first Euro 6 buses.

The deals came after Cummins reported record annual sales to the European bus market, helped by rising demand from customers in Turkey.

More than 6,500 engines were made, with almost half supplied to leading Turkish bus makers, such as Otokar and Temsa.