REDUNDANCY packages are being prepared for 250 workers at the area's biggest engineering firm.

But as the results of a ballot for industrial action are awaited, the workforce at Ingersoll-Rand, in Hindley Green, have been told to sit tight by Leigh MP Andy Burnham.

Mr Burnham was due to meet employees' representatives from the air compressor manufacturing works today, in a bid to cut job losses and prevent the firm from relocating to the Czech Republic.

About 250 production-line jobs from a total of more than 400 are expected to be lost at the Swan Lane plant.

Company bosses say the decision to move was made due to increasing competitive pressures and the high strength of the pound against the euro.

Mr Burnham said: "The ultimate aim is to persuade the company to drop its relocation plan.

"I'm hoping the Department of Trade and Industry could put together a package which will give them that incentive.

"I don't want to raise false hopes because that would be unfair but every effort should be made and every avenue explored to reach a suitable solution for all."

The MP intends to write to Trade and Industry secretary Patricia Hewitt this weekend. He faces a race against time as the company, which makes industrial compressors, will be reducing its workload in Hindley from the middle of next year.

Those working in the manufacturing sector at the company have vowed to strike and claim the company's main issue is profit.

But shop steward Ian Bryant believes cheaper labour and land in the Czech Republic are the two main factors behind the move.

Meanwhile, about 100 workers at the firm's sales department in Chorley New Road, Horwich, have been assured their jobs are safe. Staff at Horwich's Global Business department have also been told their jobs are safe.

A spokesman for Ingersoll-Rand -- which employs more than 2,400 people across the country -- said: "We have been holding informal discussions with trade union representatives for some time and have kept them appraised of the situation. Talks are continuing."

The company said it was evaluating the possible transfer of compressor production to central Europe as part of a strategy to remain competitive.

In June 1999, up to 80 jobs faced the axe at the Ingersoll-Rand factory, hitting engineers who manufactured the portable and rotary compressors. But the company was looking to make Hindley Green a centre for excellence for assembly and testing. A company spokesman denied this was the beginning of the site's closure.