MANAGEMENT at the Barnoldswick Rolls-Royce factories today revealed that a decision on redundancies may take weeks.

After the announcement last week that the company was to shed thousands of jobs at its United Kingdom factories, workers returning to work yesterday morning expected a decision to have been made.

But Martin Brodie, a spokesman for the company, said that no decision had been reached on where the redundancies would come.

"It could take two or three weeks," he said.

A total of 5,000 workers will be made redundant, with 3,800 jobs to be lost in the UK.

The company, the largest single employer in Pendle, is expected to make the bulk of redundancies in its aerospace business, of which the factories in Barnoldswick are a part.

In a statement last week, chief executive John Rose told the London Stock Exchange that the company had been forced to assess its position after the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11.

Pendle MP Gordon Prentice will meet Mr Rose and other members of the board early next month to discuss the crisis facing aviation and aerospace industries and their plans for the future.

Mr Prentice said: "Clearly this is a very worrying time for Rolls-Royce workers. We all want to see the company's detailed plans so we know what we are talking about.

"Business traffic is down significantly on the trans-Atlantic routes. We all hope that it picks up again rapidly on the back of the tightened security now in place."

Most of the firm's production takes place at its main site in Derby.

The company makes parts for aero engines at its Barnoldswick sites, which employ almost 1,000 people.