Thirty jobs will be created on Teesside after a long-term deal was signed by gas suppliers Centrica.

OC5, owned by the utilities and services provider ETOL, will see its staff base rise by a fifth to cope with the new deal to provide specialist services until 2011.

The firm offers a contact centre for the former British Gas firm dealing with business customer account queries on behalf of Centrica.

OC5 general manager Ian Tulloch said: "This reflects a tremendous amount of hard work on the part of everyone in the business and is a real boost for our dedicated team."

Parent company ETOL will now look to expand the scope of OC5 to other potential customers across Teesside.