Melksham-based firm Avon Protection lands a new contract with the Ministry of Defence

A safety equipment company that makes gas masks for military personnel and emergency workers says a new contract from the Ministry of Defense (MOD) will protect 250 jobs.

Avon Protection, based in Melksham, Wiltshire, was awarded the £38m contract in May.

The company has been supplying the Ministry of Defense with general duty respirators since 2018.

“We’re very excited, and our people are proud of what they do,” said company president Steve Elwell.

Each year, Avon Protection produces more than 100,000 gas masks.

The new contract is said to mean it will be able to continue supporting the UK armed forces for at least four years.

Gas masks made in Melksham will also be sent to troops in Ukraine.

Mr Elwell said: “What is really important to us is this quality.

“I’m very aware that our users never want to wear our product – it’s a pretty bad day when they have to wear it – but of course when you have to put that product on what you need is confidence that it’s going to work. to work.”

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a former chemical weapons commander.

“We’re learning a lot about the war in Ukraine right now – whether it’s drones, whether it’s the use of tanks, but also the use of toxic chemicals and CS gas, which gives the Russians a real advantage,” he said he.

“It is a possibility that, if things go very badly, NATO and the British military will be involved in the fight.

“If they do, they need to make sure they have the absolute right equipment.”