A DISUSED fireplace factory will rise from the ashes this summer when it re-opens as an engineering plant.

Bosses at Newton Aycliffe-based D&S Services expect to create at least 15 jobs and double turnover to £4m when it moves into the former Suncrest Surrounds site at Peterlee, which closed in April 2009 with the loss of 105 jobs.

The factory has stood empty for the last six years although it hit the headlines in 2010 when police discovered the unit on Hunter Road, South West Industrial Estate had been converted into a cannabis farm.

D&S Services, which employs 28 staff, has invested £380,000 to revamp the factory and install new machinery after outgrowing its premises on Aycliffe Business Park, which the firm plans to retain.

The expansion will more than quadruple D&S floor space as well as increase sales and create jobs at Aycliffe and Peterlee.

Alastair Tennant, commercial director said: "It's good news for Newton Aycliffe because we're looking to increase operations and take on more staff there, and it's great news for Peterlee because we're bringing an old factory back to life which has been empty for the last six years.

"The intention is to grow what we do in Aycliffe as well as establish and grow the new Peterlee operation.

"We also have a lot of clients in the Peterlee and Wearside area and space constraints meant we were outgrowing our site at Aycliffe, so it made sense to look for additional space in another part of the North-East and Peterlee is an ideal location for us.

"It will enable us to realise some major growth. We've got potential contracts on the Material Handling side that we want to take advantage of, but which we're not able to take on due to space constraints.

"D&S Material Handling has grown significantly over the last 12 months and we can see a lot of future growth in the business.

"It's a major development for the company. We're spending £180,000 on new machinery and around the same on getting the new site to where we want it to be, so it's a substantial investment."

D&S Services operates five sub-brands delivering a range of metal fabrication and engineering services nationally.

Nine workers have joined the company in the last six months, increasing staff numbers from 19 to 28 to deal with a surge in work.

Mr Tennant reassured workers that the firm remains committed to its existing base. He added: "Aycliffe Business Park is a great place to be and our Aycliffe site remains an integral part of the company.

"We're going to build our D&S Express sub-brand in Aycliffe, working on small order structural steelwork, secondary steelwork and construction steelwork ancillaries, and hopefully go from strength-to-strength.

"The aim is to create 15 new jobs between the two sites over the next two years while doubling turnover from £2m to £4m."

Peterlee suffered a significant blow in April 2009 when fire surround and mantelpiece manufacturer Suncrest called in administrators following poor trading.

A decade earlier a blaze had destroyed the firm’s factory on South-West Industrial Estate leaving owners with a £10m repair bill. The fire destroyed all the company's stock and manufacturing equipment and left the factory in Swan Road a burnt-out shell. The company initially switched production to its assembly plant in Hunter Road and a few weeks later to a 100,000sq ft factory at Hetton-le-Hole that allowed it to set about re-building the Hunter Road unit.

By 2009 it had hit cashflow problems and a takeover deal by gas fire maker Magiglo failed to save the business which had been in the town for almost 40 years.