THE first UK built washing machines for many years have come off the production line at a Newton Aycliffe manufacturing company.

Ebac has so far built 30 washers and is pressing ahead with its £7m plans to make up to 200,000 a year and create about 100 jobs.

The UK imports about four million washers a year with none made in the UK after Indesit returned production of Hotpoint machines to Italy.

Pamela Petty, Ebac’s managing director, said the family–run firm, known for its dehumidifiers, heat pumps and water coolers, was carrying out a raft of tests ahead of a launch later this year.

She said: “The production equipment is all in, we have made full washing machines, and the finished articles are around us and going through tests.

“There are probably between 20 and 30 in total; we’ve clocked up thousands of hours of testing and are accelerating that to make sure reliability is not an issue.

“They are not just numbers on a spreadsheet anymore, they are real and in front of us, and we know what they cost to make.”

Mrs Petty said the company, which employs more than 200 staff and started making Norfrost chest freezers last year, said she hoped retailers and customers would now consider its washers.

She added: “We have proved we can make them, and we now need the retailers to get the products into the shops so people can buy them.

“We have done a lot of hard work; all we need now is people to take them. If they do that, we can create more jobs.”

She said they were confident they could stand up against other manufacturers and do well.