CONSERVATIVE MP Andrew Stephenson has pledged to step up his fight to save jobs at Rolls-Royce’s Barnoldswick plants.

He raised his concerns over 156 jobs losses at the aerospace firm with a government minister at Westminster.

Mr Stephenson contrasted the firm’s recent redundancy announcements with good employment news elsewhere in his Pendle constituency.

He highlighted the revival of Silent Night in Barnoldswick since 2011, creating jobs and ‘going from strength to strength’. and told Commons Deputy Leader Tom Brake in a special debate: “Sadly, all is not well with Pendle’s largest employer, Rolls-Royce, which has sites at Bankfield and Ghyll Brow in Barnoldswick, and currently employs more than 1,000 people. Worryingly, under the last Government Rolls-Royce opened a new factory in Singapore to manufacture civil wide-chord fan blades, the same process undertaken in Barnoldswick, as the company opted to invest abroad rather than in the UK.

“Last week we had confirmation total job losses would be 156. Regrettably those job losses will be phased in between now and the end of the year.

“The number of job losses is deeply regrettable when that flagship British company is growing and winning new orders across the globe. I am going to continue to make the case for investment and job creation in Barnoldswick."

Union works convenor at the plant, Jon Brough, said: “ decision to invest abroad has led to lower levels of employment at Barnoldswick, although I believe there would still have been jobs lost. I hope Andrew will gain support from the Government to bring investment to the area.”

A Rolls-Royce spokesperson said: “We react to changing demands from our customers and this has led to a reduced workload at Barnoldswick.”