A TEES Valley based steel fabrication firm has secured a £35m contract to build more than 200 road bridges for a South Asian island nation.

The contract Darlington based engineers Cleveland Bridge UK (CBUK) has secured with the Sri Lankan Government is expected to create more jobs at the North-East plant on top of its present workforce of around 220.

The three year contract will also ensure a good supply of work at the facility in Yarm Road for the next 12 to 18 months while fabrication work takes place.

CBUK general manager Andy Hall said: "We are delighted to have this contract, it is superb.

"The good thing is it gives us a base load for the Darlington factory for 12-18 months."

It comes as a number of firms in the construction industry have started seeking more work abroad, as UK private sector projects fail to come through fast enough for companies to fill the void created by the drop in public sector contracts.

Mr Hall said: "We have always done it, but when the UK market drops we tend to look overseas a little bit more.

"CBUK is pursing similar overseas projects and negotiations continue on other contracts in other countries and we anticipate being able to announce these in the near future."

The contract is to design, fabricate and erect 210 permanent steel bridges throughout Sri Lanka, which is located off the southern coast of India.

The main bridge design and fabrication will take place at the Darlington plant after which the bridges will be exported in kit form to Sri Lanka.

There they will be erected under supervision by management sent from the Darlington plant, a process expected to take around 18 months.

The contract has been awarded following negotiations with the Sri Lankan Government, which aims to provide better road links to rural communities in order to relieve poverty and improve the rural infrastructure.

The scheme has had the assistance of the UK Governments Export Credit Guarantees Department, which helps overseas buyers to purchase goods from UK exporters by guaranteeing bank loans and insures UK exporters against non-payment.

The British High Commission in Sri Lanka, has also supported CBUK throughout the negotiations.

The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, John Rankin, said: "We are pleased that Sri Lanka has selected Cleveland Bridge UK, a reputed British company that has proven their engineering excellence globally."

Previous contracts carried out by CBUK include constructing the arch for the new Wembley Stadium and work on Britain's tallest building, the Shard of Glass skyscraper, in London.