AN international safety and survival centre is providing a test arena for a new generation of life-saving equipment for helicopter crews and passengers.

Trials are taking place at the Nutec Centre for Safety, in Billingham, Teesside, on an integrated survival suit and rebreather system to aid underwater escape from a helicopter ditched in the sea.

Trials are being undertaken by Nutec's survival instructors, under the eye of safety experts from Cranfield University, for manufacturers the Shark Group.

Shark survival products are used by oil companies all over the world, including the Caspian Sea, Australasia and Russia.

Jane Nolan, deputy chief executive of the Shark Group, said: "We have chosen Nutec to provide the testing for the next generation of our survival systems, and our personnel are extremely impressed with the expertise and commitment of Nutec's staff."

Nutec is a leading provider of helicopter underwater escape training and has made significant contributions to the research and development of survival suits and emergency breathing systems.

Robin Archer, managing director of Nutec, said: "An integrated survival suit and rebreather system gives crews and passengers vital extra seconds in the event of their aircraft ditching in the sea and could mean the difference between life and death."

The Shark Group, of Morpeth, Northumberland, has won a number of national design awards for its safety equipment, most recently the Air Pocket rebreather, which had its final trials at Nutec in 1999 and is carried by oil industry helicopter crews.