Up to 250 new jobs will be created at Ford’s Dagenham plant with the installation of a new diesel engine production line.

Production will start towards the end of the year on the low-CO2, 2.0-litre engines and rise to 350,000 annually, representing £380 million of investment - including government support through the Regional Growth Fund.

The first wave of new recruits will join arrive at the site on 23-month fixed-term contracts in December, with further waves set to join the 2,000-strong workforce early next year.

Mark Ovenden, Ford of Britain chairman and managing director, said: “This recruitment programme underlines Ford’s commitment to the UK and signals the final step towards the production of an all-new, state-of-the-art, low carbon diesel engine that has been designed, developed and manufactured by Ford in the UK.”

The new positions will form part of the manufacturing team setting up and running the production line, which produced 787,398 diesel engines last year - 85 per cent of which were exported abroad.

Minister for universities, science and cities, Greg Clark, said: “The Regional Growth Fund is playing a pivotal role in supporting businesses such as Ford to grow and create long-term, highly skilled jobs.”

This latest diesel engine programme at Dagenham forms part of a £1.5 bln investment by the American car giants in low-carbon and environmentally friendly engine and vehicle technology over five years.

For more information or to apply or the new jobs visit randstad.co.uk/ford.