JCB will invest GBP2.5 million (USD4.4 million) to expand cab production in one of its Staffordshire plants.

A JCB spokesperson said JCB's cab production had grown since it began manufacturing cabs in 1999. "Production has increased almost tenfold in seven years and today we manufacture more than 30,000 cabs a year."

Before 1999, JCB sourced cabs from external suppliers. JCB has submitted a planning application to the local council to extend its cab factory in Rugeley, Staffordshire.

JCB wants to expand the factory's shopfloor space by 30,000 square feet (2,787 square metres). JCB Cab Systems will add 75 employees to its current 300 employees and plans to build a new employee car park for 78 vehicles.

Headquartered at Rocester, JCB produces forklifts, telehandlers, excavators, loaders, tractors and dump trucks at five Staffordshire plants.

Privately-owned JCB would not say how many JCB teletruks (JCB's counterbalanced forklifts with telescopic booms) it produced a year but a spokesperson said JCB manufactured 45,000 machines in 2005, up 20 per cent from 2004.