Two of East Anglia's longest serving agricultural engineers have joined forces, it has been announced.

North Suffolk-based P Tuckwell, which became one of the country's first four John Deere dealers in 1965, has taken over J E Buckle's business in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Paul Tuckwell, joint managing director of Tuckwell with his son James, said: 'We are all extremely excited to welcome all the staff and customers of J E Buckle Ltd to the Tuckwell group. Our aim is to work closely with the existing Buckle team so that we can continue to build on the excellent values, customer relationships and service levels that have been established over the past 42 years.'

In 1954, his father, Len Tuckwell started a business, Worlingworth Contracts, near Framlinghm, which expanded rapidly and included a fleet of about 400 hire sprayers.

Then he was approached by John Deere and the relationship has gone from strength to strength. In 1978, L E Tuckwell were the first UK dealer to sell more than �1,000,000 worth of John Deere products.

Buckle's managing director Gary Buckle said: 'We believe the well established, family owned Tuckwell group offers perfect synergy, scale and opportunity to continue to provide these solutions for our customers long into the future.'

Tuckwell, which currently employs about 100 staff and skilled engineers, has expanded into Essex and further afield.

The agreement is expected to be completed on June 1. The existing Buckle depots will continue with the new business.