INTERNATIONAL engineering and services firm Amec has won a £48m contract to design and deliver a new gas compression station in Scotland.

The Haughton Road, Darlington-based operations centre will carry out the work at Bathgate, near Edinburgh, for Transco National Transmission and Trading.

The work is seen as a major boost for the 250 staff based at the headquarters of Amec's downstream oil, gas and process division in Darlington. The division employs more than 3,000 people worldwide.

The work includes engineering and installation of major plant and commissioning of the station.

Operation and maintenance are also included in the contract and detailed negotiations between Transco and Amec in Darlington are under way to define the requirements.

Amec has carried out a conceptual study to arrive at the best technical, environmental and value-for-money solution for the station over its 20-year operating period.

The contract win follows Amec's successful delivery of compression stations at Wooler, in Northumberland, and in Aberdeen, as well as a compressor station project being carried out in Norfolk.

Steve Lee, managing director of the Darlington division, said: "This is a major boost for our staff in Darlington.

"They work tirelessly to provide added-value engineering and asset support services to long-term clients such as Transco and fully deserve this success."

Amec is a leading international provider of specialised services and engineering solutions for clients in manufacturing, commercial, infrastructure and process industries.

The energy and oil and gas markets, for which Amec is a long-term supplier of services, accounts for about a quarter of the group's global activities.

Amec has four ongoing regional framework agreements for Transco, worth about £80m a year.

In addition to being a prime services supplier to the oil and gas industry, Amec is also a leader in North Sea support services and also provides long term services for a number of major energy projects for international clients.