HUNDREDS of jobs and thousands of pounds of investment are on their way to the region.

The news follows fabrication expert Heerema Hartlepool Limited's contract win to build the biggest oil platform deck in its history.

It will build the 9,500-ton Buzzard utility deck for Canadian oil company EnCana's operations in the North Sea. The platform will be stationed 100km north east of Aberdeen.

At its peak, the contract will need 700 trained staff and will benefit many local suppliers to the company.

Brian Dixon, Heerema Hartlepool director, said: "We are absolutely delighted to be awarded this prestigious contract as it is the first large integrated deck to be awarded to a UK contractor for over five years.

"It is not only a reward for our skilled and loyal workforce, but also a terrific accomplishment for Heerema to be awarded this contract against strong European competition."

The contract award has proved timely for the company as it will complete work on another major project, the Clair Drilling Facility, early next year.

Tony Windebank, Heerema Hartlepool human resources manager, said: "There is no other bigger deck coming out until the beginning of 2005.

"It was so important for us to win this deck. If we had not won it, we would have a lot of redundancies."

Traditionally, the fabrication industry has a transient workforce, with a large number of workers employed for specific contracts. When a contract ends, they are left to find employment with other companies that have orders.

The Clair Drilling Facility project is keeping 430 people in work at Heerema Hartlepool's yard, but that number will fall as the contract nears completion in February.

The company expects to move straight on to the Buzzard deck, which should give greater continuity for staff at the plant.

The contract is due to be completed by summer 2006.

EnCana has high hopes for the Buzzard Development Project, seeing it as one of its most significant discoveries in the North Sea.

Oil at the site was tested in May 2001 and an appraisal program of the quantity present was completed in summer last year.