A NORTH-EAST digger firm will make a new model for European markets, The Northern Echo can reveal.

Komatsu UK has been chosen by its Japanese bosses to supply a next generation hybrid excavator from its plant in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.

The digger, which officials say reduces operators’ fuel use, will build on similar models already made at the company’s 200,000sq metre North-East factory and strengthen its position in the European construction equipment sector.

Work is expected to start in the coming weeks.

Read The Northern Echo's wider feature on Komatsu UK

The plant, which employs about 400 workers, delivers a variety of diggers, ranging from 20-tonnes to 80-tonnes, while it also supplies machines fitted with longer arms to break down buildings.

However, its latest deal represents another coup and reiterates the confidence its Japanese hierarchy has in the site, after they previously chose Birtley to supply a model fitted with Komatsu’s Intelligent Machine Control (IMC) system for Europe.

The company says IMC allows a digger to take control of projects by software to identify its position on the ground and its bucket movements, which cuts production time and reduces the need for secondary checks.

Peter Howe, Komatsu UK managing director, told The Northern Echo: “We are a high-tech company and have products that others don’t have.

“No-one is as successful with the hybrids as we are; we were the first to market with them and the intelligent machines is the next step in the evolution of construction equipment.

“Komatsu is a leading brand in the world, it’s a premium product and its policy is to have production plants close to where the demand is in the market.”

Komatsu UK has made in excess of 60,000 excavators in the region since it started operations in the 1980s.

Last year, it supplied machinery to demolition and construction company, Thompsons of Prudhoe, which is known for pulling down the Gateshead Trinity Square car park that appeared in the 1971 film Get Carter, starring Sir Michael Caine.