240 jobs to be created at Mabey - graduate jobs

Around 240 positions will be created when engineering firm Mabey Bridge begins building towers for wind turbines, offering hope to fresh graduates looking to break into the industry.

The company has submitted a planning application to Monmouthshire County Council to double the size of a warehouse so the towers can be constructed.

It already has 400 people employed from the town of Chepstow and nearby Lydney, Gloucestershire.

Peter Lloyd, managing director, said: "This is a significant announcement which will provide a massive boost for the local economy, creating hundreds of jobs."

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones added: "These are highly skilled jobs that will provide a boost to the local economy while showing once again that manufacturing is still central to Wales."

As much as £38 million is being invested at their new facility in Chepstow, and Mr Lloyd added: "The investment goes against the grain of the decline in the manufacturing sector in the UK and will put South Wales at the heart of the move towards a low carbon economy."

Production at the site could reduce the need for imports by supplying about 50% of the UK's turbine towers for onshore and offshore wind farms, he said.

The firm added that its relationships with manufacturers would see that the factory will run at full capacity relatively quickly.