THE power behind Royal Navy workboats, including those supporting Britain's flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, will be engineered in Bicester.

A new contract to build engines for the £48million next-generation Royal Navy workboat fleet has been awarded to Bicester-based company E.P. Barrus Ltd.

The boats will carry out tasks such as transporting sailors to the new aircraft carrier and its sister ship HMS Prince of Wales and it will be possible to store them inside the ships.

The contract comes as the company secured its future in the town and agreed a move to Graven Hill in southern Bicester – soon to become the biggest self-build site in the country.

E.P. Barrus Ltd will be working with prime contractor for the project Atlas Elektronik UK by providing the engines for up to 38 Navy workboats, as well as support from 2018 until 2024.

E.P. Barrus Ltd special products division sales manager, David Etherington-Smith, said: "We are very proud to have been selected by Atlas Elektronik UK to provide the propulsion systems and engineering support for these cutting-edge workboats, in this, our centennial year."

It is not yet known if the contract will create more jobs at the Bicester site but the company has said it will help to secure future engineering roles and apprenticeships – taken on annually – with the company.

The Bicester workforce will help build Yanmar marine diesel engines from 350hp to 1000hp for the 'SEA Class' vessels that will range from 11m to 18m in size.

They will also be used for diver training, explosive ordnance disposal, officer training, Antarctic exploration and logistic resupply.

Mr Etherington-Smith added: "This builds on our success with the supply of earlier versions of these Yanmar engines and ensures a continuity and commonality with current in-service engines within the Ministry of Defence fleet."

E.P. Barrus Ltd, which employs 170 people in the town, is expected to move to Graven Hill from its site in Launton Road by 2019.

It comes after a seven-year search for a new site so it could consolidate its operations under one roof.

Graven Hill helps with ideal transport connections for its variety of products such as marine, garden and industrial equipment to be distributed.

The Bicester-based company is celebrating its 100th anniversary in business and this year also marks 40 years since it moved to Bicester from London in 1977.