BRITAIN’S latest nuclear power station is already providing a multi-billion boost for the economy though only in its early stages of construction, a new report has revealed.

So far Hinkley Point C, near Bridgwater, has been responsible for around £15 million of investment into education, skills and employment initiatives both locally and regionally.

And figures released by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy show millions more are being pumped into areas such as accommodation and housing, economic development, tourism, health, transport and the environment.

The report has been welcomed by the area’s MP, Conservative Ian Liddell-Grainger, who says the economic benefits already flowing from the huge construction project more than justify the decision to go ahead with it.

The £20 billion, twin-reactor station will eventually deliver low-carbon power to some six million homes and will create an estimated 25,000 employment opportunities.

Even though construction has yet to hit top gear there are already 3,000 workers on site and around 250 apprentices have worked on the station to date – a quarter of the total which builder EDF expects to train during the life of the project.

Meanwhile with companies across the country winning contracts for Hinkley Point C the initial pledge that up to 64 per cent of the build cost would be spent within the UK is being firmly adhered to.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said his Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency had already seen permanent, long-term benefits such as road improvements and better village facilities delivered as a result of the station’s construction.

“Hinkley Point has come in for some pretty heavy criticism one way and another, notably over the unit cost of the electricity it will be delivering,” he said.

“But when one looks at the benefits that have already flowed into the local, regional and national economies it puts the entire project in a completely different light and it is now increasingly difficult for anyone to argue that it does not represent good value for money.”