WORK on a distribution development expected to create up to 1,000 jobs is expected to start this summer.

Development company Merchant Place plans to build four distribution warehouses, with offices and parking spaces, on farmland near Heighington, County Durham.

The site, to be known as Amazon Park, represents an extension to the Aycliffe Industrial Park and will be developed using environmentally sustainable building methods and energy management systems.

The land had been held in reserve by the joint owners, Durham County Council and Sedgefield Borough Council, and was marketed in response to increasing interest in the region from the distribution and logistics industry.

Planning applications have been submitted to Sedgefield and Darlington borough councils and, if the scheme is approved, work is expected to start in weeks.

Durham council leader Albert Nugent said: "Major retailers, such as supermarkets and clothes shops, now require much larger premises closer to their markets, from which they can distribute goods quickly as part of their just-in-time delivery systems.

"The Heighington Lane site is ideal in this respect.

"This is an exciting development which demonstrates that County Durham continues to be an attractive area for large-scale industrial development. This project will bring significant benefits in terms of jobs, and helps in our drive to create a varied economy in the county."

Brian Allen, chief executive of Sedgefield council, said: "It shows how the local economy is growing and that investors have renewed confidence in the area due its unique position in the region.

"We will be working closely with training and employment agencies in the locality to ensure that as many of the new jobs created as possible go to local people."