THREE engineers employed at a factory that closed in the summer have found work delivering skills to manufacturers across the region.

Shaun Wood, Andrew Rispin and Alan Jones lost their jobs with electronics company LG Philips when it closed its Belmont plant, in Durham, in July.

All three have signed three-year contracts with the North-East Productivity Alliance (Nepa), working with management teams and staff to pass on best practice and help raise productivity.

Mr Rispin, 32, of West Auckland, County Durham, said: "We will be trained on the Nepa programme to work with about 20 firms, which should give us much better job prospects when we eventually leave Nepa."

Mr Wood said: "It's good to get the chance to have this stability at Nepa and know that we can help other people in manufacturing keep their jobs by helping their employers to be more productive."

Nepa is jointly funded by regional development agency One NorthEast, the Learning and Skills Council and the EU.