Jobs boost at MoD Donnington hailed as a 'Godsend' for nearby towns

More than 1,200 homes are due to be built five miles away in Newport over the next couple of years – at the same time Leidos is likely to be building a new logistics hub for Ministry of Defence at its Donnington site.

As a result of the Leidos decision, 1,000 jobs have been protected, more than 700 will be created and it could be worth £60 million to the Telford & Wrekin economy.

Ward councillor Eric Carter, chairman of the Newport Regeneration Partnership, said he would be discussing how Newport could take advantage of the jobs bonanza.

He said: "This is very important and we want to make sure that opportunities for jobs growth are grabbed. I welcome the fact this has been successful

"With what we are doing in Newport with our agenda to create jobs in industry and bring an agri-tech centre of excellence to the town, we will be looking ourselves to see whether there are some links we can make with Donnington.

"Our MP Mark Pritchard said he did not know what the result would be but he was very bullish and hopeful we would win the bid and a lot of credit has to go to him with his work behind the scenes."

Councillor Carter also sits on the Marches Strategic Rail Group and said he would be discussing how the nearby Telford International Railfreight Park could be used.

"That terminal was critical in us winning the bid and I helped push to get that terminal."

Newport ward borough councillor Peter Scott also welcomed the decision.

He said: "This will be an absolute Godsend for Newport. It is always good news to have such a large number of jobs created down the road from you, it is only a couple of miles away and hopefully the people of Newport will benefit from these jobs."

Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard, said: "This is excellent news for jobs and the future of MoD Donnington, which will now become the UK's main defence logistics hub."