A NORTH-EAST company is playing a leading role in Europe's first solo mission to another planet.

The workers from Northern Precision Engineering (NPE) will be holding their breath tomorrow when Beagle 2 , which they have helped to create, is expected to land on Mars.

Staff from the Tyneside company have been heavily involved in the design and construction of vital components of the probe and its mother-ship, Mars Express.

Their work passed its first test when Beagle 2 successfully separated from the spacecraft that carried it 47 million miles to the vicinity of the Red Planet last week.

The company manufactured the four titanium rings forming part of the structure that made the separation a successful operation.

Now, three landing feet made in Wallsend will be put to the test when the probe touches down at 2.40am.

By 6.30am, after its inflated airbags have detached and it has charged its battery, Beagle 2 should send a signal to report the good news.

Mothership Mars Express will be in orbit around the planet as the probe starts a 180-day mission searching for signs of life.

John Tomlinson, NPE managing director, paid tribute to the North-East workforce who have made the European Space Agency mission possible.

He said: "We have got a cracking team of engineers.

"They have proved to be the best in the North-East, if not the country or even the world.

"This product on the way to Mars is a credit to the guys who work on the shopfloor."

Mr Tomlinson, 32, from Wolsingham, in Weardale, said: "We are confident everything will go well, but you never know.

"We have done everything humanly possible on earth to cover every eventuality, but Mars is an unforgiving planet."

Should the landing be successful, a signal from Beagle 2 will be picked up by a US craft, the Odyssey.

It will then be transmitted to the European Space Operations centre in Germany, which has a live link with the Royal Geographical Society in London.

The signal, a piece of work composed by pop group Blur, will prompt celebrations around Europe, and smiles of satisfaction in the North-East.