BAE Systems has been awarded a £76m contract to assist in the support and maintenance of the RAF's fleet of Tornados.

The multi-million pound deal secures the jobs of more than 800 workers, at the company's Warton site, near Preston, who work on the Tornado programme.

The ten-year contract is to support the Tornado's Secondary Power System which allows the aircraft's hydraulic and mechanical systems to be operated and tested without having to fire up the main engines.

The aerospace giant, which also has a site at Samlesbury, signed the deal with the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO), a branch of the Ministry of Defence (MOD), at the end of last month.

Although most of the work will be carried out at RAF bases the programme will be managed and supported from BAE's Warton site.

The contract is a direct result of a deal brokered four years ago between BAE and DLO in exchange for more contracts.

And aerospace chiefs say the deal will help the partner organisations cut costs by 25 percent.

It is the fourth contract awarded to the company after the deal in 2000, bringing the total value of all the contacts to £230million to date.

Air Commodore Nigel Bairsto, the MOD's Tornado Joint Integrated Project Team (IPT) leader, said: "This latest contract builds upon the substantial savings already achieved, contributing towards the DLO cost reduction targets while providing significant business growth for BAE Systems.

"We've worked together to develop a solution that gives a benchmark service delivering significant cost savings and encourages continuous improvement through long-term incentives and gain sharing arrangements."

BAE Systems' Tornado joint IPT leader, Martin Blaze, added: "BAE's record of delivering on support contracts has proved our ability to support our customer's capability while providing a value-for-money solution."