Defence secretary Phillip Hammond has inked a £1bn contract for reactors that will power the next generation of British nuclear submarines, creating 300 jobs.

Two reactor cores are set to be built at the Rolls Royce plant in Derbyshire. One of them will be used for a new Astute-class attack submarine, and the first of the next-gen nuclear deterrent subs.

An MoD spokesman said: "This government is committed to maintaining a continuous submarine-based nuclear deterrent and announced last May that design work would begin to replace our existing submarines. Following a Trident value-for-money study carried out as part of the strategic defence and security review, we are proceeding with initial work to renew the nuclear deterrent, but a final decision will be taken in 2016.”