Rolls-Royce bosses believe the feared collapse of planemaker Fokker will not affect jobs at its Lancashire site.

The Barnoldswick plant makes components for the Rolls-Royce Tay range of engines which are used in some of the Dutch firm's aircraft.

But a spokesman for the aero engine giant stressed that Fokker's financial problems should not have a major impact on Rolls-Royce.

"We are still at the stage of speculation over the future of Fokker but it is not likely to have any impact on jobs in Rolls-Royce," he said.

"We produce around 60-80 engines for their planes each year worth around £100 million to us.

"However that is less than five per cent of our turnover and there is no suggestion at the moment that Fokker will suddenly stop producing its aircraft. They have been a very long standing customer for us but it is a small proportion of our workload."

The Barnoldswick plant, which employs more than 800, manufactures fan blades and front bearing housings for the Tay range of engines along with components for four other Rolls-Royce engines. Fokker was thrown into crisis after parent firm Daimler-Benz decided to end financial support for it.

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