US carmaker Ford has announced plans to create hundreds of new jobs at its plant in Dagenham to manufacture low-carbon diesel engines.

Some 318 positions are being created at the site as the company invests £190 million in the technology, which will be installed in Ford commercial vehicles from 2016.

Up to half a million two-litre engines a year will be produced for cars and vans when the second phase of production begins in 2017.

The news was welcomed by prime minister David Cameron, who described it as "a vote of confidence in our long-term economic plan to back business, create more jobs and secure a brighter future for Britain".

Some £8.9 million of public money is being invested in the plant from the government's Regional Growth Fund.

Ford employs 2,800 workers at Dagenham, which is its largest in the UK and supplies half of all its diesel engines worldwide.