Work to start on £90m army base in Telford

The base in Donnington currently employs more than 1,000 staff

Work is set to begin on a new £90m army logistics centre in Telford.

US defence firm Leidos, which won a contract from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) earlier this year, said the 850,000 sq ft base will "fulfil the needs of the frontline commands".

Building work on the site, next to to the existing MoD Donnington facility, will start in August and should be completed by next September.

The firm said it had not ruled out creating more jobs in the future.

A decision to build the centre, which will handle procurement, stock control of food, clothing and medical supplies, was announced in February.

MoD Donnington already provides logistics support for the army, handling military equipment and weapons.

Defence minister Philip Dunne said at the time it would secure the site "for decades to come".

Barbara Doornink, managing director of Leidos in European, said: "With some of the enduring facilities here, the armoury, the hazard warehouse, and the work the council did here... makes this an easy place to build a fulfilment centre and really made this a good solution for us."

She said the company would bring in state-of-the-art procurement systems as well as new IT equipment.