A CONSTRUCTION company is hoping to secure an £18m contract to replace 180,000 Sri Lankan homes destroyed by the Asian tsunami.

MMP, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, already has staff in the country building sample homes.

The company uses steel frames and cladding, which allows homes to be built quickly and with semi-skilled labour.

Company chairman Michael O'Connell is waiting to hear if the group has won the first phase of the contract, which will be worth about £300,000.

The whole contract, with the Sri Lankan government, is expected to take between three and four years to complete.

MMP staff will train local workers to assemble the homes.

Mr O'Connell said: "We haven't got the order yet, but we do expect the order. We have two people out there at the moment.

"A project manager from here will help with the first couple of houses and after that they should be able to do the rest themselves, once they have been trained.

"It is a significant contract for us and it is also nice to be doing some good work."

Mr O'Connell said he was planning to triple turnover at the group from £20m to £60m in the next five years.

MMP employs the latest off-site building techniques, using steel frames clad with insulated panels.

The homes can be quality-tested in the factory, leading to less building waste, they are warmer and more energy-efficient, and do not require as many skilled workers as it would take to build a conventional house.

The frames are manufactured in Newton Aycliffe, before being shipped out in "flat-pack" form.

MMP is also working on a scheme to rebuild a school in Thailand, through a charitable appeal the company is running.

The company will design and prefabricate the school before shipping it in flat-pack form.

MMP is enlisting the help of other companies to donate time, money or expertise to the project. Cement group Lafarge, an architect, and flooring contractors are already involved.

For more information about the MMP Group tsunami appeal, visit www.mmpgroup.co.uk/tsunami