UNION bosses were today due to lobby MPs in a bid to help to stem job losses in the aerospace industry.

Industry in East Lancashire has been rocked by job losses in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks with losses at BAe in Samlesbury and Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick.

Union officials were this morning travelling to Westminster to talk to MPs about the jobs crisis in some areas of the local manufacturing industry.

"We will be demanding urgent action from government both financially and strategically in order to help this industry through this crisis," said John Wall, national secretary of the Manufacturing Science and Finance union.

Worst hit was Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick where 295 workers have been handed their cards

Employees at the Bankfield and Ghyll Brow sites are under threat from the cuts which would come start by the Spring of 2002.

The company, which employs 1,080 people, said it is looking at the possibility of closing the Ghyll Brow plant and concentrating production at Bankfield, though bosses have said re-training schemes are being organised for staff.

Details of those schemes will be announced at the next aerospace alliance meeting in Nelson on December 10.

Gordon Prentice, MP for Pendle, has called on the Government to offer a helping hand to the aviation industry following news of the 3,200 job losses at Rolls-Royce sites around the country.

Also badly hit was BAe Samlesbury where 140 workers were told last week their jobs were to be axed as part of 1,700 redundancies across the country.

BAe bosses are now in a 90-day consultation period with the unions at Samlesbury but have said the company cannot rule out compulsory redundancies.

The 140 workers are involved in the commercial aircraft manufacture for Boeing and on the Airbus.

Profit forecasts for the Airbus, which BAe is helping to build, have fallen sharply and the outlook for regional aircraft has also dropped.