BOSSES of East Lancashire's big aerospace firms today warned that without more government help the industry in the UK will wither away.

Ken Maciver, general manager of TRW Aeronautical Systems which owns the old Lucas Aerospace company; John Weston, the chief executive of BAE Systems which has military aircraft factories at Samlesbury and Warton, and John Rose, chief executive of Rolls Royce, which has an aero-engine factory at Barnoldswick, were at Westminster to deliver their message.

They arrived in London against a background of 2,000 imminent job losses in BAE Systems military wing and proposed employment cutbacks at Rolls Royce.

Appearing before the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee on behalf of the Society of British Aeropsace Companies, of which Mr Maciver is President, they said in an increasingly global market, factories and jobs would move to countries which did more to help firms if the government did not do more. They called for more tax breaks to help research and development, greater direct government grants for new technology and projects, more cash for small hi-tech firms and more orders from the Ministry of Defence.

The move comes just a few days after Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans warned of a jobs 'meltdown' in East Lancashire and urged Prime Minister Tony Blair to visit the area and explain what could be done to stem the losses.

Mr Rose also warned that changes to the Export Credit Guarantee Scheme -- which underwrites major overseas sales -- could seriously damage his company and other major aerospace firms.

Mr Maciver said the increasing globalisation of aerospace was having a big impact on companies adding: "The UK Aerospace Industry is now perhaps better described as the Aerospace Industry in the UK."

He said that the takeover of Lucas Aerospace by TRW, based in Cleveland, Ohio in the United States was a good example of what was happening. While British firms co-operated closely with their counterparts in Europe and across the Atlantic, Mr Maciver warned that America, Canada, France and Germany were all specifically targeting the aerospace industry with tax breaks, grants and other measures to lure companies and investment. He said: "They are targeting it as an attractive and successful technology-based industry."