A CONTACT lens manufacturer has been overwhelmed with more than 1,000 applications for 200 new jobs.

CooperVision based in Fareham is expanding its workforce as it seeks to increase production capacity by 15 per cent over the next year.

The firm launched a recruitment drive for 200 new members of staff to support the growth and “rebalance temporary staff packages”.

But the company, which has offices in Hamble and Segensworth and employs 2,000 people in Hampshire, said it had to finish its recruitment process early after the huge demand for jobs.

Latest jobs figures show that the dole queue in Hampshire stood at 26,959, in March, 3,980 fewer than the same month last year.

CooperVision currently makes more than one million soft contact lenses a day in the UK.

The new jobs will be largely production operators, technical operations staff and team leaders based at Hamble.

Kevin Barrett, managing director of UK manufacturing at CooperVision said: “The unprecedented response we have received clearly demonstrates how important an employer CooperVision is to the local area and these additional staff members will be key to supporting our growth going forwards.”

He added: “We are predicting a significant growth in capacity for next year which is driven by demand in the marketplace, particularly for our recently introduced branded products such as Biofinity and Proclear 1 Day.

“These products are produced at our manufacturing facility in Hamble, which is predominantly where these new jobs will be based.”

CooperVision, part of the New York Stock Exchange listed Cooper Companies, makes a full range of monthly, two-week and daily disposable contact lenses.