A JOB-STARVED area of west Durham has received a boost with the announcement that a manufacturing plant is being built that will create 37 jobs.

Trinity Cables Ltd is investing more than £1.5m in the 35,000 sq ft manufacturing operation at Aptec Enterprise Park, in Darlington Road, West Auckland.

The wider Bishop Auckland area has been hit hard by a number of company closures and redundancies over recent months and the announcement from Trinity Cables managing director Narendra Kumar Rathi has been warmly welcomed.

Trinity will make electrical and telecom cables for the building, telecoms and IT industries, with a customer base that includes distributors and wholesalers throughout the UK and overseas.

Mr Rathi, who has more than 30 years experience in the cable industry, made the decision to come to West Auckland after approaching County Durham Development Company (CDDC) in November last year. Since then, the company and CDDC have worked together to find the ideal location.

Mr Rathi and his team have good business contacts in the UK and abroad.

He said: "We looked at a number of sites and have decided to build the plant in West Auckland.

"West Auckland is a good location for us. One of the things that attracted us to the area was the skilled manpower availability and supporting industries."

John Elliott, a property specialist at CDDC who helped Trinity find its home, said: "CDDC is delighted to have assisted Trinity Cables and to have been instrumental in securing this valuable manufacturing project, bringing important employment opportunities in the west of the county.

"We are confident that Mr Rathi's extensive experience and network of contacts in the cabling industry will see the company go from strength to strength. They have already secured orders from overseas customers in anticipation of the production."

A range of organisations were instrumental in bringing Trinity Cables to the region.

Alongside CDDC, regional development agency One NorthEast gave £185,000 of Regional Selective Assistance grant aid and Wear Valley District Council and HSBC Bank were also involved in the deal.

Trinity Cables is recruiting skilled and semi-skilled workers.