LANCASHIRE looks certain to be the winner in the world's biggest-ever aerospace contract, with the prospect of 3,000 new high-tech jobs coming to the county.

BAE Systems can expect a large slice of the multi-billion-dollar contract to build the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, regardless of who wins the prize.

American aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing are slugging it out for the right to build the next generation of fighter plane.

BAE workers at Samlesbury and Warton are already key partners in the Lockheed bid and won a top award in June for their contribution to the plane's development.

Over the weekend, Boeing has leaked news that it would build a plant in Lancashire, creating about 3,000 jobs, if it clinched the contract.

Samlesbury, with hundreds of acres of land available for development, would be the likely site.

Foreign secretary and Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: "It is very good news that a major aerospace company recognises the manufacturing skills of the people of Lancashire. It is a great boost for the area. We now have to wait to see if it comes to pass."

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans was delighted at the prospect. "I think it is important to have a strong manufacturing base in the North West. This is a welcome development.

"We have the expertise here and we have the people who could take the jobs. The more high-tech jobs like these, the better."

The US Government will announce the winner of the JSF competition in mid-October. With Britain committed to ordering the new plane for both the RAF and Royal Navy, the Government will have some influence on which of the American giants will win the order.

As the deadline for the announcement looms, both aerospace groups are raising their lobbying campaigns in an effort to secure the British Government's support.

The winning consortium will build an estimated 3,000 planes for the US airforce, navy and marine corps. Britain wants the plane for the RAF and Royal Navy, which needs to replace its ageing Harrier jump-jets.

At Samlesbury, BAE workers became the first non-Lockheed staff to collect the company's prestigious Aero star award.

The Samlesbury plant has produced a fuselage ground-based demonstrator as part of the development programme. The full-sized model showed how the smooth surfaces required for the next generation fighter aircraft could be achieved in production.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "We are working closely with the American government in assessing the bids by both Boeing and Lockheed Martin.