DEFENCE Secretary Michael Portillo was today desperately trying to force the Cabinet to place vital orders for the Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft and two new RAF missiles as North West MPs demanded an early decision.

Mr Portillo is locked in a battle with Chancellor Kenneth Clarke over whether the orders, worth £3.5 billion, should go ahead this summer.

All three are vital to British Aerospace, with its military aircraft division at Samlesbury and Warton bidding for the £2 billion Nimrod contract and its factory at Lostock, Bolton, for the missile work.

BAe is bidding against a GEC/Lockheed consortium for the Nimrod contract, considered vital to maintain job security at the Lancashire factories.

And a co-operative deal with Matra in France depends on the Lostock factory winning the £800 million order for a mini cruise missile or a £750 million order for an anti tank missile. Mr Portillo has already brought Prime Minister John Major and his deputy Michael Heseltine into the row and will tomorrow attempt to break the logjam at the final Cabinet meeting before the summer.

He had hoped to place the orders before MPs broke up for their holidays today but, as we revealed on July 5, Mr Clarke put the block on.

The Chancellor has told Mr Portillo he is not prepared to release the money before this autumn's review of public spending for the coming year.

Mr Portillo fears that this may not merely delay the orders but lead to their cancellation.

Today Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans was leading a plea for the orders to be placed saying they were essential to the defence of the realm as well as to BAe and dozens of smaller companies and sub contractors throughout the North West.

He was backed by other North West Tories, including Chorley's Den Dover and Wyre's Keith Mans, who were insisting that the orders should be placed as soon as possible and not put into the lottery of the autumn public expenditure review.

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