NORTH-East shipbuilders are hoping to benefit from a £3bn Royal Navy shipbuilding contract.

Two rival consortia are bidding to build two massive aircraft carriers for the Ministry of Defence.

The 60,000 tonne carriers will be the biggest British warships ever built, measuring 950ft and costing £1.5bn each.

BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Vosper Thornycroft, Northrop Grumman and Rolls-Royce have submitted one bid, while the other consortium includes French firm Thales, Lockheed, Raytheon, Halliburton and Alstom.

The contract will be awarded next year.