A plant for manufacturing concrete blocks out of waste power station materials will bring up to 60 jobs to the region.

Construction group Thomas Armstrong has already started production at the £12m facility in Brompton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, making aerated building blocks.

The factory employs between 30 to 40 people, but once 24-hour production begins, it will employ 60.

Thomas Armstrong, of Maryport, Cumbria, employs about 800 people across the North of England, specialising in materials for the construction industry. Its group turnover is £110m.

At the Brompton-on-Swale site, aerated blocks will be made out of waste material from the Drax Power Station, in Selby, North Yorkshire. Steam used to heat the kilns will be recycled and condensed into water for the boiler.

The plant ties in with the Government goal of using environmentally-friendly products and reducing waste with more modern construction methods.

Martin Home, sales manager of Thomas Armstrong's Concrete Blocks division, said: "All the material we use is recycled, all the energy we use is recycled.

"We are increasingly looking at more modern methods which reduce as much waste as possible.

"All energy used is captured and then re-used, generating zero emissions into the atmosphere."

The large blocks, known as Airtec, can be used on the building site like ordinary bricks, but because of their size, they reduce construction time and the need for so many skilled workers.

They also meets stringent conditions imposed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for keeping heat in social housing.

The company, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year, is one of the oldest construction businesses in the UK.

Its concrete division has plants across the region, employing about 150 people at Pickhill near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, in Consett, County Durham, and in Newcastle.

The group also has sites at Catterick, North Yorkshire, and in Ferryhill, County Durham.

Later this month, Thomas Armstrong's group managing director, Keith Denham, will visit the Brompton-on-Swale plant to receive a quality certificate to confirm the manufacturing processes and quality methods are to European standards.

This will allow the business to start selling products from its new plant to architects and construction firms.