A BIOFUELS company contemplating making a multi-million pound investment in the region is calling on local wheat growers to pledge their interest.

Somerset-based Wessex Grain is looking at sites on Teesside to build a bioethanol plant, converting wheat into ethanol, also known as ethyl or grain alcohol, which can be mixed with petrol to make biofuels.

A spokesman for Wessex said the firm was initially looking for growers to supply wheat to its Green Spirit Fuels business for the production of bioethanol at a site in Henstridge, Somerset.

However, he said Wessex has plans to build five plants across the UK in the next five to eight years and wanted to source potential suppliers.

"There is no guarantee at the moment where the other sites will be built. There is the potential for a site in the North-East, but there are no firm plans," he said.

"Wessex wants to know where the potential suppliers would be. This is an opportunity for growers in the region to show their interest in being involved."

At this stage, growers are invited to complete an inquiry form on the Wessex website www.wessex grain.co.uk - and long-term supply contracts will be made available in the early part of next year.

If Wessex was to build a plant in the region, it is thought it would create 70 jobs directly and another 200 in the supply chain.