SECURITY technology company 2020 Vision Systems has won a contract to distribute surveillance systems worldwide.

An innovation by the company, which is based in South Shields, South Tyneside, has been greeted as a major technological advance in the fight against terrorism.

The system it has developed automatically alerts security camera operators to unattended or suspicious packages and provides video playback showing the person who left the item.

The system has other applications, including fighting theft from museums or other locations that house valuable artefacts by detecting when objects have been moved.

It can be used in No Parking zones to catch vehicles stopping in restricted areas and in warehouses it can identify packages or containers that have not been moved for a specified period of time.

2020 secured the contract with system developer iOmniscient, in Sydney, in a deal brokered by regional development agency One NorthEast's Australian office.

The Australian office is home to Professional Public Relations - working from Sydney with satellite offices throughout Australia and New Zealand - promoting the North of England as a location for Australasian companies hoping to develop their business in Europe.

Peter Houlis, 2020 managing director, said: "The applications for this system could be huge and we have already had initial expressions of interest from organisations in the North-East and across the UK."