WORKERS at redundancy-hit BAE Systems could be offered a lifeline after a jobs boost at Rolls-Royce.

Union leaders said Rolls, which employs 1,000 across two sites in Barnoldswick, is to create 60 new positions this year after a boom in civil sector orders.

And Unite bosses said they were encouraging the firm to speak to BAE, which is axing 270 roles at its sprawling Samlesbury base.

It is hoped some under-threat BAE staff could find similar aero-engineering jobs at Rolls-Royce.

Jon Brough, a Unite convenor at Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick, said he had been told the new jobs would be spread throughout 2011 and will be related to work on Trent and V2500 engines.

He said: “Work in the civil sector is expected to get really busy, particularly at the back end of this year and into 2012.

“It is increasing beyond what we are used to and the company believes that this increase will continue.”

Mr Brough said he believed the skills of any axed BAE workers would be ‘transferable’ to Barnoldswick.

Unions at BAE in Samlesbury have insisted they will work with company bosses in an attempt to ensure job losses are found through volunteers and retirees.

However, all-union chairman Keith Plumber welcomed the move by counterparts at Rolls-Royce.

He said: “In the past, we have had people going to work at Barnoldswick when our own workload has dipped.

“If we are in that position again, we certainly would not rule it out.”

At the end of last year, BAE announced it was cutting 270 jobs at Samlesbury and almost 1,000 at Warton after the government axed the Nimrod and Harrier programmes.

In contrast, Rolls-Royce’s order book stands at almost £60billion.

Staff at the firm’s Barnoldswick site make fan blades for all Trent engines, which power Airbus and Boeing jets.

Rolls-Royce was unavailable for comment.