THE Queen's Lancashire Regiment appeared to have its future secured today following a major defence review.

Some sources had been predicting that the regiment would be abolished or merged in the shake-up announced by cabinet minister Geoff Hoon this week.

However any proposals to re-jig the army's regimental structure will now not be announced until 2004.

And it appears that the QLR is now safe, as its position as a mechanised regiment using light armoured vehicles was supported in the White Paper Delivering Security in a Changing World."

Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said he hoped the QLR would play a part in the 21st century army, particularly in view of its history as a successor to the Accrington Pals, who were slaughtered almost to a man in the trenches of the first World War.

Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told MPs of the need for a more agile and flexible Army, Navy and RAF.

The White Paper said that there was a need to move to "a more graduated and balance structure of light, medium and heavy forces."

It said this would "over time lead to a reduced requirement for main battle tanks, other heavy armoured fighting vehicles and heavy artillery, offset by a new requirement for medium-weight forces based on the Future Rapid Effects System family of vehicles."

This involved reducing the number of heavy armoured brigades from three to two with the possible mothballing of up to a third of their Challenger 2 Tanks.

A new light armoured brigade would be created and the 19th Mechanised Brigade would move to lighter armoured equipment than its current light tanks and armoured vehicles.

As part of the 19th Mechanised Brigade, the QLR looks set for survival, said informed sources at Westminster.

It is already ordered to be deployed as a worldwide rapid reaction force in 2003 with the whole 19th Mechanised Brigade heading for a two-year stint in Cyprus in 2004.

Informed observers believe that the Ministry of Defence is unlikely to disturb the configuration of the brigade and that it is one of the prime candidates for the new generation of light armoured vehicles.

The Ministry of Defence refused to make any official comment saying no decisions had been taken and the review on regimental and other deployments due in 2004 had not even started.

But Mr Pope said: "I hope that the QLR does survive. It has just performed splendidly in Iraq.

"I believe that we need to make changes to tackle warfare in the 21st century. But, as a mechanised regiment, the QLR seem well placed to survive."