SHIPWORKERS in the North-East will get an early Christmas present today with a contract providing work for 800 people.

Trade Secretary Stephen Byers is to announce the go-ahead for a major new oil field in the North Sea.

As part of the move, Tyneside shipyard Swan Hunter has won a major commercial contract to work on the giant mobile platform, which will tap oil reserves across 200 miles, north of Aberdeen.

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) sources last night said the contract, worth between £30m and £40m, would safeguard 800 jobs, although they also hinted some new jobs could be created.

The announcement caps a good year for Swan Hunter following the earlier success of winning a share of a Royal Navy contract to build four new landing ships.

A DTI official told The Northern Echo that the oil platform contract was great news for Tyneside and for Swan Hunter.

"This will provide work for 800 people and it is a vindication of Swan Hunter's technical ability to carry out this complicated engineering work.

"It's a great Christmas present for the workers of Swan Hunter and for the whole community."

In today's announcement, Mr Byers - who is MP for North Tyneside - will say that oil exploration company Kerr-McGee is to get the licence to tap the oil reserves of the Leadon field.

The move, involving £340m investment overall, was the largest oil development to be announced this year, DTI sources said.

Swan's workers will work on super-structures to be attached to the hull of the mobile rig.

It is due to be finished by the end of next year ahead, of the scheduled start of oil exploitation in 2002.

The Leadon oil field is expected to have an overall life of 16 years.

DTI sources last night also said that the Government had been "pro-active" in ensuring the new field was developed as otherwise, oil firms would go overseas.

The field was also bringing commercial benefits for British firms such as Swan Hunter, said a source.