NISSAN has sold off part of its North-East car plant to make way for a £75m business park.

New owners, developers Wilton and Clugston, plan to transform the 45-acre site in Sunderland into an office and leisure complex, leading to the creation of 4,000 permanent jobs and hundreds more during construction.

Nissan intends to use some of the money from the sale to build a £4.5m logistics centre, creating 15 jobs and increasing the efficiency of its operations.

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alistair Darling hailed the announcement as excellent news for Sunderland, and said Nissan's investment indicated the continuing strength of the UK automotive industry.

"Nissan has contributed a huge amount to the local and national economy, and this announcement can help them make the next step," he said.

"The new business park can bring more jobs and investment to the area, which is growing all the time."

Barmston Developments, a joint venture partnership between Wilton Developments and Clugston Developments, has bought the site from Nissan for an undisclosed sum.

It plans to build a 690,000sq ft mixed-use business park, with offices and light industrial units as well as a hotel, car showrooms and retail units.

A planning application will be submitted in the summer and, subject to approval, construction work could begin before the turn of the year.

Bob Culliford, managing director of Clugston Developments Limited, which has offices in Washington, Wearside, said the development will be built in phases during the next four to five years.

The disposal of the land will enable Nissan to build a 20,000sq ft logistics centre, which will process thousands of car parts each year from around the world.

Trevor Mann, senior vice-president for manufacturing Europe, said: "The new centre will handle inbound parts for the Sunderland plant. Increasingly, these are coming from further afield, in bulk volume.

"By bulk sourcing parts, we are making significant total cost savings, which helps our plant to improve its competitiveness. This in turn puts us in a stronger position when bidding for future models."

Construction work on the logistics centre, which will be located on the south side of the existing trim and chassis shop, will begin later this month for completion by next February.

The double announcement was yesterday welcomed by Sunderland City Council and regional development agency One NorthEast (One), both of which were involved in brokering the deal.

Ian Williams, One's interim director of business and industry, said: "The expansion of the Nissan plant strengthens its already world-leading position when bidding for new models, and Sunderland stands to further benefit economically from a premier business park in a prime location."