Aero engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce is investing £2.5m in its Sunderland facility to manufacture new products for engines that will power Airbus aircraft and the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The facility on the Pallion Industrial Estate, which currently employs more than 400 staff, already makes discs for fans, compressors and turbines that go into many of Rolls-Royce civil and military aero engines.

The new products, known as cover plates, will safeguard the jobs of the staff currently involved in the products.

Work is also being transferred to Sunderland from the Rolls-Royce facility at Ansty, near Coventry, for which there will be additional investment in training.

State-of-the-art equipment will also be brought into the plant from Japan and there will also be considerable investment in training.

The company has received £500,000 in financial assistance from the Government Office for the North-East, Sunderland City Council and the Learning and Skills Council for Tyne and Wear towards the development.

David Jennings, general manager of Rolls-Royce in Sunderland, said: "This investment is another step towards our goal of making Sunderland a Rolls-Royce Centre of Excellence for disc manufacture.

"The help and support we have received from the government agencies has been significant."

Mel Barrass, regional officer for the AEEU/Amicus union, said: "We are delighted that Rolls-Royce is showing confidence in the Pallion plant, as well as the support it has received from One NorthEast and the local council.

"Hopefully, Rolls-Royce will be able to build on this success, which will lead to more jobs being created in Sunderland in the future.

Leader of the Sunderland City Council, Councillor Colin Anderson, said: "We were delighted to offer our support to Rolls-Royce as it continues to make the Sunderland facility a world-class manufacturing centre.

"Rolls-Royce has been a valuable employer in the city for many years and we are proud to be associated with this new project."

Chris Roberts, Executive Director of the Learning and Skills Council Tyne and Wear, said: "We are proud to assist such an important local company with the up-skilling of part of its workforce that will help it to produce new products and improve its competitiveness."

The news of the investment is a welcome boost for Rolls-Royce's North-East operations. In October last year, the group announced plans to axe more than 3,800 jobs in the UK as part of 5,000 cuts across the globe in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the US. Rolls-Royce was employs more than 40,000 people in more 30 countries, including 25,000 in the UK.

The companies aero engines power commercial aircraft in every segment of the market. It has customers using both fixed and rotary wing aircraft in over 150 countries,

including more than 500 airlines, 4,000 corporate and utility operators and 160 armed forces.

Rolls-Royce has annual sales of around £6bn and a forward order book of nearly £17bn.