An engineering services company has won contracts worth $1bn to rebuild the water supply and sewage systems in war-ravaged Iraq.

Amec, which has a site in Darlington, was awarded the contract by the US Department of Defence.

It will be carried out in partnership with US firm Fluor - a joint venture that won a $500m contract to restore power generation in Iraq earlier this month.

An Amec spokesman said last night that workers from the North-East could be involved in the latest project.

"The company is looking for people who want to go and there has been quite an impressive response," he said.

"Whatever skills are needed, we will use them, from throughout Amec. The project management will be from the workforce and the contractors will be Iraqis."

Work on the contracts, in the northern and southern regions of Iraq, is expected to start shortly.

The spokesman said that Amec already had a team in Iraq and the safety of its people was of paramount importance.

The company will have its own security services, in addition to the security teams provided by the coalition forces.

Amec's chief executive, Sir Peter Mason, said: "This award confirms Amec's role as the leading UK company involved in the reconstruction of Iraq.

"Our wide experience of managing sensitive and critical projects on this scale worldwide will have been an important factor in this award."

Brian Wilson, Prime Minister Tony Blair's special envoy in Iraq, said: "This latest award confirms that British companies will play a key role in reconstructing Iraq, particularly in the crucial water sector.

"This is a US-funded contract and I have no doubt that, as funding sources diversify, British companies will play an even bigger part in rebuilding Iraq.

"There is no doubt that the Iraqis very much want the involvement of British firms."

The contracts form part of a round of contracts being awarded by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the US-led body in charge of Iraq reconstruction.