A NORTH-EAST civil engineering firm and digger maker have forged links to deliver machinery for £30m road improvements.

The Owen Pugh Group has spent £1.2m on vehicles and specialist satellite navigation equipment for use on the Morpeth Northern Bypass scheme, in Northumberland.

Bosses say it has bought four bulldozers, two diggers and six control systems from Komatsu, which has a factory in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.

They added the 3D control software allows operators to analyse surfaces more easily, helping to cut production time through more precise digging.

The equipment will initially support Owen Pugh’s earthworks on the Morpeth bypass, which will run from Whorral Bank roundabout to the A1 trunk road, between Fairmoor and Lancaster Park.

The investment comes after Owen Pugh, which employs more than 400 North-East workers, spent nearly £3.5m to improve its vehicle fleet, including 28 tipper trucks.

Paul Cockburn, general manager of Owen Pugh and Co, which is responsible for the company’s plant hire and haulage businesses, said it was delighted to have worked with a local supplier.

He added: “The whole package with these machines has fitted our requirements from the start.

“Fuel efficiency, excellent reliability and the after-sales support from our local dealer Marubeni Komatsu have been key factors.

“But that’s not to mention the fact the excavators are made on our doorstep in the Komatsu Birtley plant.”

The Owen Pugh Group operates across civil engineering, drainage and groundworks, plant hire and haulage, quarrying, and waste and drain cleaning.

The Morpeth work follows a similar £800,000 deal last year, which has seen the company carry out earthmoving work on the busy A174 and A19 junction close to Thornaby, near Stockton.

The project, overseen by Costain for the Highways Agency, now known as Highways England, includes dualling the route and adding extra lanes to a roundabout.

Running an aggregate site at Marsden Quarry, South Tyneside, Owen Pugh also has the HCS Drains Service division, in Stockton, with its head office based in Dudley, North Tyneside.