A CIVIL engineering company has received its first new vehicle as part of a £3.4m deal.

The Owen Pugh Group has taken delivery of a Mercedes Benz truck, with three more vehicles due to arrive every week over the next three months.

The order, which represents Owen Pugh’s largest ever single fleet investment, includes 28 tippers, and comes after the firm struck an agreement with Mercedes dealership Bell Truck and Van.

Bosses say the trucks will be used across the business’ five divisions to replace older models.

Paul Cockburn, general manager of Owen Pugh and Co, which is responsible for the company’s plant hire and haulage businesses, said: “This has been in the offing for a number of months, so we’re delighted to see the first of the new vehicles arrive.

“They will allow us to operate more efficiently, cutting monthly fuel costs by up to four per cent and significantly reducing emissions.”

Mr Cockburn added the trucks will be put to work on a number of projects, including the Morpeth Northern Bypass, where Owen Pugh is carrying out earthworks for Carillion and is moving construction aggregates for Lafarge Tarmac.

Trevor Simmons, Bell Truck and Van’s group managing director, added: “We were delighted Owen Pugh selected us as their partner to deliver this substantial order, and look forward to seeing the fleet in action.”

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

Running an aggregate site at Marsden Quarry, South Tyneside, it operates the HCS Drains Service division in Stockton, with its head office in Dudley, North Tyneside.