Four hundred people will move to Bristol in the new year as part of the Ministry of Defence's ongoing expansion of its Abbey Wood complex in Filton.

The move is part of the plan to increase the workforce at the Defence Equipment and Services (DE&S) headquarters to 10,000 between 2007 and 2012.

The aim is to improve the delivery of defence equipment to the frontline armed forces by centralising the department in Bristol.

As part of the move, 400 staff from other MoD bases around the country will move to Abbey Wood between January and March.

Martin & Co Letting agents, based in Kingswood, says it 'urgently' needs landlords to house the MoD staff moving to Bristol.

Spokesman for the branch, Kevin Seager, said: "It's nice to see the growth coming back into Bristol. If you have a large number of people coming into the area in a short period it kick-starts the economy. They will come here and be shopping and buying things, and might even buy things like cars in the city."

Last summer, the Evening Post revealed the number of MoD staff working at Abbey Wood would increase from 6,000 to more than 10,000.

Workers from Andover in Hampshire, Cambridgeshire and Bath will relocate to Abbey Wood in a series of phased moves.

As part of the expansion, a new £25 million, three-storey office block to house 600 staff is being built on the other side of the A4174 ring road from the main complex.