Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers has announced a £5.7 million Government grant to help create more that 1,000 hi-tech jobs.

This money is being given towards a £32.2 million investment made by North America company JDS Uniphase, who manufacture opto-electrical components.

The company have previously announced that they would be spending around £18.5 million to create 909 new jobs in Plymouth by 2005. The second phase is expected to create around another 1,052 jobs for which the DTi has offered the grant as Regional Selective Assistance funding.

Mr Byers who made the announcement whilst visiting the company's factory in Plymouth, Devon, also stated that this new investment would be a major boost to the South West economy and represented the confidence of overseas inverstors in the the future economy of the region.

JDS Uniphase manufacture products for the fibre-optics communications market and have benefitted with the growth of the Internet.