A £60m-plus contract will give job security to 400 Darlington workers.

Bridge builder Cleveland Bridge has won the contract to carry out work on the M1 over a three-year period.

Not only will there be security for the staff at Darlington but at least 50 more jobs will be created at the site.

Cleveland Bridge vice-president Derek Prattle said last Friday that the contract was fantastic news for the company, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary.

He also said it was likely the company would win a second contract, also exceeding £60m, within the next month, but he could not comment on that yet.

Cleveland's impressive track record and experience in the field of retrofit projects and bridge building had undoubtedly been a major factor in securing the M1 project, he said, adding: "It's good for us in terms of continuity. We have recently completed work at Avonmouth Bridge and at Canary Wharf.

"We have got a core team we use on the projects but, if we don't have a set project, those guys have to find other work. This offers them the chance to keep working with us if they want to. It also offers stability for the whole workforce for the next two or three years. We are also looking to hire additional people at the Darlington works."

The extensive works will be carried out on the M1 Tinsley viaduct, near the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, and involve strengthening the 1,033m long, 20 span, double deck steel box girder viaduct to bring it in line with an EU directive on lorry weights. The 32-year-old bridge is restricted to four lanes but strengthening it will allow this to increase to six.

The first stage of a four-month programme of surveys and tests has already been successfully completed, with Cleveland Bridge working alongside main contractor Edmund Nuttall, design consultants Owen Williams and the Highways Agency.

Between 200 and 250 people, more than half of them from the North-East, will work on the project. "It's a significant number of on-site personnel for us," said Mr Prattle.