A £400,000 engineering scheme is under way in Newton Aycliffe to upgrade gas supplies.

A team of engineers from Northern Gas Networks will replace more than 2km of old metal gas main with durable plastic pipe.

It is among the first projects by the region's new gas distribution company, which bought a 36,000km network of gas mains from the National Grid Transco on June 1, for £1.4bn.

Work has started on the B6443 Central Avenue, close to St Mary's Church roundabout, and will continue in Stephenson Way, Pease Way, Emerson Way, Simpasture Gate and Barrington Road until October.

Engineers from United Utilities hope to keep disruption to a minimum by using trenchless technology for most of the work.

Neil Wilkinson, United Utilities network officer, said: "This work is absolutely essential if we are to be able to guarantee the continued safety and reliability of gas supplies in Newton Aycliffe. It is a significant project, but the good news is that we are hoping that most of our pipe laying will be in verges and will not affect traffic."

Pipework for the engineering project has been supplied by Newton Aycliffe firm Uponor Ltd, which manufactures plastic piping.