BRITAIN is to become a year-round tomato producer for the first time thanks to a groundbreaking scheme that uses waste steam and carbon dioxide from a North-East factory.

The move will see thousands of tomato plants of all varieties, including many which have to be imported from Europe during winter months, thrive on Teesside, Sainsbury's said.

Rather than being released into the atmosphere, carbon dioxide - a key ingredient for plant growth - will be pumped into a glasshouse complex the size of 20 football pitches to boost production by up to 50 per cent.

It will be combined with a supply of steam from the factory, which will heat the vast 23-acre site in Billingham.

New glass technology will also let in more light, while cheap electricity from a partnership with the factory has cut costs still further, Sainsbury's said.

As a result, crop production would be cost-effective in the winter for the first time, it claimed, representing a major landmark in British horticulture.

The first tomatoes from the site, developed by grower John Baarda Ltd and set to become one of the largest glasshouse horticultural centres in Europe, will reach the shelves in early December, after being sown in the next few weeks.

Britons ate six billion tomatoes last year.

Sainsbury's fresh produce buyer Clancy McMahon said: "This is one of the defining moments of British crop production.

"For the first time, our grey skies won't hinder the supply of British tomatoes which taste just as good as they do in Italy and Spain."