Almost half a million pounds is being spent to build a temporary car park for shipyard workers on council land.

BAE Systems is spending £482,000 converting a piece of land opposite the Resolution building at Barrow Docks.

Contractor Thomas Armstrong is due to begin work within the coming weeks with the 750-space car park in Dova Way set to open in the autumn.

A shuttle bus will transport employees to various parts of the shipyard.

Shipyard bosses have said that, once it opens, for the first time in many years the site will have more car parking spaces than its employees can fill.

BAE's head of site services, Paul Campbell, said: "This has been a long time coming; a huge amount of hard work. In collaboration with Barrow Borough Council and Cumbria County Council we've arrived at a solution that gives us sufficient parking capacity to meet the changing demands of the business."

The land, owned by Cumbria County Council, will be used as an alternative car park while two existing car parks, in Buccleuch Dock Road and Cornmill Crossing, are developed.

The first of these to be transformed will be the Buccleuch Dock Road site, which will close next month for 10 months while a two-storey car park is built.

The multi-storey car park will provide 850 spaces when it reopens in September 2020 – a net gain of 380 spaces.

Taken together, the two improved car parks will boost the shipyard's car parking capacity by more than 600 spaces by 2021, meeting the anticipated car parking demand for the next 20 years.

Barrow Borough Council granted planning permission for the temporary car park.

Steve Solsby, assistant director at the council, explained why the Waterfront land, earmarked for development, was being temporarily used to unlock a solution to Barrow Island's parking problem.

He said: "The expanding workforce at BAE Systems is to be welcomed, but we have seen parking challenges as a result.

"We felt it was important to work together with the company and with the landowners, Cumbria County Council, on a plan that will provide long-lasting benefits for the town."