Cumbria County Council has announced it has signed a seven-year contract that will see a private company take over maintenance of highways, bridges and streetlights.

The authority called the £300 million contract with specialist support services company Amey a "strategic partnership", and said it should bring improvements in highways maintenance, plus savings of £7 million.

Four hundred staff employed by Cumbria County Council's contract services construction unit will transfer to Amey, and their employment and pension rights will be protected.

The deal will also include engineering laboratories that provide technical problem solving services; environmental design; and the management and maintenance of 1,000 vehicles and items of plant and other equipment; plus ground maintenance and sign manufacturing.

County council leader Tim Stoddard said: "Cumbria County Council is now able to continue with its drive for improved and modernised highways services, and at the same time provide better value for money to the people of Cumbria."

The deal, which is due to start in April, was agreed as part of the authority's Invest to Save and Improve initiative, designed to secure better services and make more effective use of public money.

However, the regional organiser for the GMB general union, Paul Savage, who said the deal affected around 350 members, said the union remained opposed to the arrangement.

"It was a profitable organisation under the county council and put money back into the council to support highways and construction," he said.

"There's no evidence whatsoever that privatising this kind of service, or any other local authority services, delivers either cheaper or better quality services, because the priority becomes profit and not the quality of service."

He said the union had negotiated to ensure that terms and conditions for staff were protected, and it would continue to be vigilant.