A HI-TECH company has built a model of the ocean floor in the middle of Oxfordshire in a bid to test deep-sea cable tracking devices.

TSS UK, supplier of innovative marine exploration equipment to governments and companies worldwide, is developing its Deeptrack project in a converted blanket mill in Witney.

New Mill has been home to the firm's headquarters for a year, where 40 people work in the firm's research and development, test, production, sales and marketing departments.

The project involves constructing a 100 cubic metre tank in which to carry out trials of the new technology before it is deployed for real.

Deeptrack is designed to overcome tracking problems such as cables getting buried in mud, caught in fishing nets, or moving with currents.

The company, which last year achieved a £6m turnover, says that present day systems work well within a few miles of the shore but fail in mid-ocean.

Deeptrack will operate anywhere in the world at depths of up to 3,500 metres, way beyond the capability of any currently available system.

TSS UK has chosen Micrologic, which has offices in Oxford, Cambridge, and Teeside, to design and implement the software for Deeptrack and its surface display equipment.

Ian Thornton of Micrologic said: "Once again this shows that small to medium sized businesses can beat the world if they are prepared to pool their expertise in real partnership."

Micrologic and TSS are now planning to expand their engineering and research departments and are looking for engineers with good technical skills in embedded hardware and software development.

Applications to Ian Thornton, Micrologic, Unit 17 North Oxford Business Centre, Lakesmere Close, Kidlington.

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