VICKERS employees were yesterday celebrating the £250m contract to build a new generation of tank support vehicles - but the region is still waiting for news of other massive contracts yet to be handed out.

Defence minister Baroness Symons announced the contract that will safeguard about 1,500 jobs during a tour of the Newcastle factory.

Hailed as a major boost for the region's economy and the future of Vickers, the deal is for 66 mine-clearing and bridge-building tanks to provide vital support for Challenger Two tanks, also built at Vickers.

But despite the euphoric atmosphere at the plant, the minister for defence procurement refused to speculate on whether other contracts would be coming to the region.

The Defence Procurement Agency has confirmed that Swan Hunter, on Tyneside, has been identified as having the potential capacity to share in a £9bn contract to build two Royal Navy aircraft carriers.

Baroness Symons said: "The aircraft carriers are still very much in the early planning stage. There will be no news on their destination for quite some time - not this year or maybe even next year."

When asked whether the decision to award Vickers the £250m contract was based on regional economic factors, she said: "We gave the contract to the company that has done the best in the competition. Vickers have worked very, very hard to secure the contract."

Vickers Defence Systems, part of Rolls Royce, faced fierce competition from US and German rivals in the battle for tank contracts worldwide.

The British Army opted for the Vickers' machines - called Trojan and Titan - because they use the same chassis as the existing Challenger battle tank.

Trojan will plough and clear minefields, while the Titan will keep the Army's infantry and armour moving by bridging ravines.

Vickers will build all three models at its Scotswood Road plant and it's hoped the vehicles will be delivered by 2006.

Colin Clark, Vickers chief executive, said: "These new vehicles will have the same or better standards of reliability as Challenger Two.

"It is very useful to have some of the same processes and workforce working on Trojan and Titan.

"There is a huge amount of commonality with spares as well, so it will be very easy to slot these machines into the Army.