A COUNTY Durham company will have two more years behind bars after landing the largest single contract for its Finishes Division.

After working on the rerendering of blocks at Durham Prison for the past year under the management of Totty Construction, M & M Plasline (MMP), of Bishop Auckland, has secured a further two-year contract worth £650,000 with the new main contract holders, Mowlems.

Ian Smith, manager of the Finishes Division, said: "This is great news for the company and for our workforce.

"This job will need 12 to 20 workers on it full-time for the next two years, which means that we have secured two years' work for nearly 20 per cent of our workforce.

"This is also the largest order under a single contract we have received to date and the whole outlook for the division is very positive."

He said: "It is exciting to work on such huge projects and this new contract builds upon the success that MMP has been enjoying recently.

"We have contracts on listed buildings, new builds, churches, hospitals and now prisons in our portfolio."

MMP is a privately-owned building and civil engineering company, which was established in 1986.

In its formative years, it was engaged as a specialist sub-contractor working on local authority, public and private sector contracts.

In 1988, MMP launched a specialised division focusing on customised, bespoke joinery, including shop and bar fittings.

A construction division was added in the same year and this has been the fastest growing part of the company in recent years.

A custom-built office and workshop in Bishop Auckland has enabled the company to continually expand its three core businesses.

MMP is now a major provider in the northern construction market, concentrating on individual construction projects up to a value of £2.5m, finishings projects to a value of £1m and joinery to £500,000.