BUSINESS leaders and a local MP today called on the Prime Minister to visit Lancashire amid claims that the area was on the verge of a 'job's melt-down.'

Ribble Valley Tory Nigel Evans made his call for Tony Blair to "come and see for himself" after Industry Minister Dick Caborn dismissed his fears over the effects of job losses at BAE Systems' military aircraft factories at Warton and Samlesbury.

The call was backed by East Lancashire Chamber of Trade. And Mr Evans' worries about manufacturing jobs were echoed by Burnley Labour MP Peter Pike, who fears redundancies in his constituency.

But a furious Hyndburn MP Greg Pope, the Government Whip for the Trade and Industry Department hit back: "The Tories presided over 20 years of massive job losses and two recessions.

"Nobody is complacent about BAE job losses. I am extremely keen to do all we can to find jobs."

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said Mr Blair's diary was never confirmed in advance but he was keen to see as many parts of the country as possible and would bear Mr Evans request in mind.

Job losses East Lancashire last year included:

590 at Leoni Wiring Systems in Accrington.

450 at car firm TRW in Burnley, followed by 150 at Caligen Foam in Accrington and Viktor Achter in Burnley.

300 at wallpaper manufacturer John Wilman in Nelson;

110 at Blackburn firm SSL

100 at Crown Wallcoverings in Darwen;

90 at Time Computer's in Simonstone;

50 at the Sappi Paper Mill in Blackburn.

A further 1,100 were moved out of East Lancashire when Airtours moved from Helmshore to Rossendale.

Mr Evans fears that coming on top of the redundancies and closures, heavy job losses at the factories in Samlesbury and Warton will cause after-shocks in the aerospace component's supply industry and the service sector throughout East Lancashire.

Mr Caborn said that two weeks ago Industry Secretary Stephen Byers was lobbying hard for a new order for the firm's Hawk trainer and said that the government was helping BAE Systems to change.

But Mr Evans said: "We are on the verge of a jobs melt-down. Mr Blair must come here, see the scale of the crisis for himself and then do something about it. I shall be writing to him to call on him to come here."

Mr Pike said: "I don't share Nigel Evans' doom-laden assessment but I have been in touch with Tony Blair about this on a number of occasions. I would be happy for him to come to East Lancashire."

Mike Damms, chief executive of the East Lancashire Chamber of Trade, said: "We are very pleased that Mr Evans has brought this up.

"Although we do have two ministerial visits lined up, one of which is to discuss the area's economy, nothing can substitute a primeministerial visit."

But Mr Pope countered: "Unemployment in Hyndburn is 2.8 per cent, the lowest its been for years. Nigel Evans' constituency has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country. Mr Evans is an economic illiterate."