COMMANDERS of three historic army regiments have agreed to merge into a single unit to be called the Royal Lancashire Regiment, it was claimed today.

The claim means the Queen's Lancashire Regiment could soon be set to join with the Liverpool-based King's Regiment and the King's Own Royal Border regiment, based in Cumbria.

Commanding officers of the three regiments have been involved in weeks of talks to thrash out a merger deal.

And according to Carlisle MP Eric Martlew, who leaked the news, the commanders have voted two to one in favour of the new Royal Lancashire Regiment.

But a QLR spokesman today said: "My understanding is that difficult negotiations are still going on and I can't officially or unofficially comment."

And a source close to the regiment added: "My latest information is that there are still big differences to be resolved between the regiments of the North West

"When this is resolved, the proposals will still have to be put forward to the MoD for agreement."

The talks were prompted by a regimental review announced by the MoD earlier this year, which indicated that the QLR, King's and Borders regiments should become a single "super regiment".

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon and Army Chief General Sir Mike Jackson want to abolish single battalion regiments in favour of multi-battalion fighting units like the Parachute Regiment.

But the announcement led to an outcry over fears that the QLR's unique Lancashire identity could be swallowed up and disappear.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph launched its own campaign to save the county's only surviving regiment and to date has received thousands of signatures backing our fight.

When the three regiments strike a deal over the formation and name of any future regiment, their proposals will be sent to the Army Board and presented to the MoD for consideration.

Today the MoD was also remaining tight-lipped about how far the talks had gone. A spokesman said: "We will make an announcement on future army structure before the end of the year. We have nothing further to say."

However local MPs have called on Tony Blair to give the threatened Queens Lancashire Regiment the same Downing Street review he has ordered for the Black Watch.

Labour MPs for Hoyle, of Chorley, and Janet Anderson, of Rossendale and Darwen, Tory Nigel Evans, of Ribble Valley, and Pendle Liberal Democrat peer Tony Greaves are now urging No. 10 to intervene in the review affecting the QLR.