Frozen food company Birds Eye opened the world's largest pea processing plant in Hull today.

The £10m site on the Brighton Street industrial estate in west Hull, will freeze about 50,000 tons of peas during the harvest from June to August.

Dubbed “Project Giant”, the 40,000sqft factory is operated by logistics firm Christian Salvesen, which was recently bought out by the French Norbert Dentressangle Group.

The factory receives peas harvested from 24,000 acres of land in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and freezes them within two-and-a-half hours of picking.

They are then stored in one-ton blocks before being transported to Birds Eye's Lowestoft plant for packaging and distribution to retail outlets across the UK.

During the pea season, the Hull factory will operate 24 hours a day.

It employs 165 workers, mainly students seeking summer jobs, divided over three shifts.

There are also 10 Birds Eye quality controllers on each shift overseeing the operation.

The opening of the factory marks the return of Birds Eye to the city after the company closed its Hessle Road pea processing plant last summer with the loss of 600 jobs.

During the nine months following the harvest, peas will be stored in the facility's cold store and essential service and repair work will be carried out.