A Chinese company could be looking at buying into the company behind Cumbria's proposed £10bn nuclear new build.

China General Nuclear Power Corporation has said it is interested in a stake in NuGen, which has plans for a power plant at Moorside, near Sellafield.

The state-owned firm is already an investor in the new build at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

Huang Xiaofei, a spokesman for CGN, told the Reuters news agency: "We are willing to utilise our more than 30 years of experience in nuclear design, construction and operation to support the UK’s nuclear industry development."

He did not go into more details on this.

NuGen was owned by Japan's Toshiba and French firm ENGIE until last month, when the Japanese firm took full control.

This move came following a difficult period for Toshiba.

In January the company announced its US subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric, which was originally part of BNFL, may have overpaid - by several billion dollars - for another nuclear construction and services business.

This contributed to losses in its nuclear business which profits elsewhere did not mitigate.

Earlier this year Westinghouse - due to supply three AP1000 reactors to Moorside - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the USA. This led to ENGIE, which held a minority stake in NuGen, to trigger shareholder agreements that forced to Toshiba to take full control.

Toshiba has always insisted that it remains committed to the Cumbrian project though it has long-term plans to sell its stake

Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) has also said it is interested in buying into the project.

A spokeswoman for Toshiba said: “We would like to explore alternatives, including sales of the shares, while carefully monitoring the situation, in consultation with other stakeholders including the British government. We cannot comment on details of consideration.”