Nissan, the carmaker, is set to spend £200m extending its Wearside factory, in Sunderland to start producing batteries for electric cars.

The plant, has beaten off competition from other Nissan factories in Europe for the investment. The move is expected to help the plant produce electric vehicles at the North East plant in the near future.

Announcing the deal, Gordon Brown commented: "Sunderland could now be a strong contender to produce electric vehicles for Nissan in Europe, and we will continue to work with Nissan to ensure this happens."