Skills jobs are set to be created in Gloucestershire as electric vehicle manufacturers turn to the county to help develop their technologies.

Omega Engineering Services has revealed that its Cheltenham-based operation is increasingly being used by manufacturers in the fast-evolving EV market to help develop their ideas.

Graham Smith (pictured right), business development manager at the Cheltenham Trade Park-based operation, said the firm could not divulge just who it was working with but could confirm there would be real benefits to the county.

"We are aspiring to grow the company. We have won new customers and we are making headway in the market," said Mr Smith.

"We are also see big potential in aerospace, which we are also involved in. We are very optimistic about the future.

"As long as we get our fundamentals right the company will grow and we will succeed."

Omega Engineering Services, part of the fast-growing Passionate About People group headquartered in Stonehouse, said it would not be drawn on how many jobs it might create, but did say they would be skilled roles.

He added: "The profile of the people we employ includes mechanical engineers, electrical designers, software engineers - highly skills people."

New players not associated with car manufacture were entering the EV market, said Mr Smith, including the likes of Dyson - and as they looked to test their ideas and develop their technologies they were turning to agile young firms like OMS.

"There are a lot of businesses which are prototyping. Quite often big companies are not as agile. We can be very focused very quickly and get the job done quickly for them," said Mr Smith.

OES describes itself as "highly experienced in supporting organisations with the outsourced development, prototyping and manufacturing of equipment to support the growth of electric vehicles in the UK".

In his blog 'Proudly engineering the rise of the UK's electric car market' the business development manager quotes figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showing that electric car sales in the UK "have risen dramatically over the past few years".

"While only around 500 electric cars were registered per month during the first half of 2014, this has now risen to an average of almost 4,000 per month during 2017.

"At the end of 2017, more than 47,000 plug-in cars had been registered over the course of the year - a new record. This significantly improved upon the previous record, set in 2016, improving it by more than 10,000 units.

"By the end of the year, plug-in cars as a proportion of total UK registrations reached 2.9 per cent, and averaged over 2017, electric cars now represent 1.9 per cent of the total new car market in the UK."