Engineering services company Babcock International has had a strong start to its financial year.

The firm - which has Cumbrian operations in Moor Row, Seascale, the Sellafield site and RAF Spadeadam, near Gilsland - has said trading is in line with expectations in this new period, which began in April and that its "visibility" had improved.

Its order book and bid pipeline of opportunities are worth £19bn and £10.5bn respectively and the company has 82 per cent of its revenue for the current year, to the end of March 2018, locked in, as well as around 55 per cent of 2019's.

A spokesman said: "Awards since the start of the financial year include a new contract, worth up to £500m, to operate a fleet of specialist fixed-wing aircraft for the Norwegian Health Service from summer 2019. We were also formally awarded and have begun mobilisation to deliver all four elements of an MoD programme to become the marine systems support partner and Systems Technical Authority for the Royal Navy's new Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers and Type 45 destroyers, expected to be worth in excess of £360m over seven years.

"Our joint venture with the Oman Drydock Company has formally begun with the provision of support to vessels including US Navy ships."

"Other contracts awarded since the start of the financial year include further work on the nuclear submarine decommissioning demonstrator project and the renewal of a number of emergency services aviation contracts, including two helicopter emergency medical services contracts in Queensland, Australia," he added.

"We have renewed two apprentice training contracts in the UK, and our marine business has expanded its in-service support footprint in Canada."

These comments were made in a statement to the London Stock Exchange, which also said it had plans to cut debt this year.

Babcock released its annual results in May, showing a 7.6 per cent rise in pre-tax profits.