The Government has hit back at claims that it has abandoned the Hitachi factory at Newton Aycliffe, leaving it to slide towards an order book crisis.

Last month Hitachi announced that the factory is now worth more than £60million LESS after what it described as "a combination of direct and in-direct economic factors continued to affect businesses and manufacturers in the UK, including supply chain pressures, a production gap and rising global inflation".

This led to calls for more support for the site, and yesterday North East mayoral candidate Kim McGuinness called on Transport Minister Mark Harper to award new train production contracts to the Durham workers before time runs out.

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She said: “The constant delays in awarding new rolling stock orders could have terrible consequences not just for the regional economy but for the livelihood of these workers. The Transport Secretary needs to explain to these people why he is putting their job at risk. It’s time for answers.”

But a Department for Transport spokesperson has now told The Northern Echo: "The Government is committed to supporting the entire sector and we are working with all rolling stock manufacturers, including Hitachi, on the future pipeline of orders.

“Rail manufacturing plays an important role in growing the UK economy and delivering better services for passengers."

The Government said it is working to clearly set out the pipeline for future rolling stock orders in the near future to provide the sector with further clarity.

It added that a number of train operators are on the market for new trains which will provide opportunities for all UK rolling stock manufacturers, including Hitachi, and it said that in the last ten years over 8,000 new vehicles have been ordered by operators across the country.

Yesterday an Hitachi Rail spokesperson told The Northern Echo: “We continue work with industry stakeholders and the government on opportunities surrounding new rolling stock orders such that we can continue to support and further enhance our investments here in the UK”   

Reacting to Kim McGuinness's comments, Sedgefield MP Paul Howell said: “I am disappointed to see Labour trying to politicise this. I speak with the DfT, Ministers and Hitachi senior management weekly. This sort of point scoring isn’t going to solve anything.

"Hitachi are a fantastic company as was shown to the Prime Minister on his recent visit and I know they are front of mind of the Ministers.”