Midas Construction and Moody Systems have been selected to carry out the final stage of a four-year development programme at Trewithen Dairy.

The £11.4m project began in 2009 and has been 50 per cent match funded by a £5.7m grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

Since the development work began the company said its turnover has increased by 118 per cent and an additional 33 jobs have been created. There is now 113 full-time staff at the dairy and Trewithen Dairy said it is set to have 120 employees by 2014.

Francis Clarke commercial director, Francis Clarke said: "The expansion so far has more than delivered the expected results. We are on target for increasing our milk production levels still further in 2013 and 2014, and have seen healthy sales increases year on year.

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"Having the input of the RDPE has been vital for us. At a time when the dairy industry is facing difficult challenges, such as rising milk production costs and a recessive climate, we are remaining strong and striving to deliver a competitive premium for farmers."

Sheryll Murray, MP for South East Cornwall, added: "Trewithen is a fantastic dairy with real high quality produce. I welcome this fantastic investment in the local food economy creating jobs for my constituents.

"The award winning dairy really is a local success story and the produce truly is something that all the staff can be proud of. I am certainly proud to say Trewithen Dairy is in my constituency."

Mike O'Neill, Divisional Director of Midas Construction said: "With an office in the centre of Cornwall and having completed very many projects across the county for a wide range of sectors, we regard Midas as Cornwall's local contractor with a national reputation. You can imagine how delighted we are to be associated with a project that reflects the very best in Cornish dairy produce and to be supporting a business that contributes so much to the regional economy and to the reputation of Cornwall."

(CD/H)