A HISTORIC munitions factory is to move to a purpose built site, preserving more than 300 jobs.

BAE Systems’ decision to move from the Birtley plant, near Chester-le-Street, to a facility in Washington, will bring to an end 93 years of munitions- making at the factory.

The £30m facility will be on the site of the former Dunlop factory, in Birtley Road, which closed in 2006 with the loss of 585 jobs.

The move was approved by Sunderland City Council this week and a contract between BAE and the site’s owners is expected to be signed imminently.

It follows a £2bn munitions deal between BAE and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced in August last year.

The 15-year Munitions Acquisition Supply Solution deal could be extended for a further ten years if all goes well, sustaining jobs at the new factory for another generation.

Under the deal, workers at Birtley and plants in Wales and Cheshire will supply about 80 per cent of the munitions used by British troops, including artillery shells and tank ammunition. The site is expected to be up and running in about two years.

A BAE Systems spokesman said: “The 15-year-contract, with an option for ten more, has taken us from a period of a series of short-term orders.

“It allowed us to take a longterm view and invest £120m into the three munition sites.”

The company had originally planned to build a facility at the Birtley site, which dates back to the First World War when it was staffed by Belgian refugees, but after a review, settled on the Washington site. The spokesman said the move, coupled with the MoD deal, was good news for the future of its 330 Birtley workers.

He said: “We have to perform, and the MoD will hold us to that, but there is no doubt all the staff are very motivated. Several times over the last couple of years troops, who have come back from Afghanistan, have toured the factories and given presentations to the workforce including the nightshift.

“There is nothing like these guys telling them for the staff to recognise the importance of what they are doing.”

Although no decision has been taken on the future of the Birtley site, it is expected it will eventually be developed into homes and light industrial units.