FEARS are growing over hundreds of Lancashire jobs as BAE Systems looks set to announce a major wave of redundancies.

The aerospace giant is reported to be preparing to axe 3,000 jobs in its military aircraft division in Lancashire and East Yorkshire because of worldwide cuts in defence budgets and a slowdown in orders for the Eurofighter Typhoon.

In Samlesbury, 1,000 people work on the jet fighter’s fuselage, and an estimated further 4,000 jobs in the area are dependent on supplying BAE.

BAE chiefs have been locked in discussion with the Indian government for months over a possible £7.2billion order, but they are competing against a rival bid from France’s Dassault Rafale.

Today union leaders were seeking urgent talks with the company over the cutbacks.

Nigel Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley, called on the Government to take “urgent action” to alleviate the situation.

He said: “It’s incredibly disappointing and a shock to the area.

“I know that many of the jobs at BAE depend on exports, and we need the Government to redouble its efforts to get the orders in.

"It is especially important that a deal with India over the Eurofighter is brought to speedy fruition.

“These are skilled jobs that will be lost, and when they are gone, it will be difficult to attract them back to the area.

“The Government needs, in the first instance, to mitigate the job losses, then ensure that support is given to export orders.”

Blackburn MP Jack Straw echoed the words of shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy, who said the loss would be a “devastating blow” to Lancashire and “a real knock for UK manufacturing”.

Mr Straw said: “The news is very worrying, especially for all the staff who work in Samlesbury and Warton.

“What is now needed is for the Government to step up efforts to secure the Indian Typhoon order.”

He added: “What this shows is that cuts in public spending have a direct affect at the heart of British industry.”

Dennis Mendoros, chairman of Regenerate Pennine Lancashire, and managing director of Barnoldswick aerospace supply company Euravia, said the loss could have a “massive impact” on the area.

He said: “This is a very challenging situation for the aerospace industry in Lancashire.

“BAE have led the way for many years and they still are our flagship company.

“The losses will have a long-term affect on the supply chain - for every one BAE job, there are four other jobs in this area directly affected - so you can see what a massive impact this will have.

“I will be calling on the Government to step in and act to help attract orders.”

A BAE spokesperson said: “In order to bridge the gap between current demand and future anticipated export contracts the production rate on the current Typhoon programme for the partner nations will be slowed.

“BAE Systems recognises that the long-term future of Typhoon is based on its export potential and therefore we need to ensure we are in the best possible position to secure those opportunities.

"Extending the production programme will help us achieve this.

“We will now work through the impact of this decision and we remain committed to making Typhoon a success both in the UK and overseas markets.”

In March the defence giant announced it would be axing 270 positions in Samlesbury, but unions said that 258 job losses in the manual workforce would be found through early retirement and voluntary redundancy.

A BAE spokeswoman said: “BAE Systems has informed staff that we are reviewing our operations across various businesses to make sure the company is performing as effectively and efficiently as possible, both in delivering our commitments to existing customers and ensuring the company is best placed to secure future business.

”As the outcome of this review becomes clear, we will, as always, communicate to our employees as a priority.”

Union leaders are now seeking urgent talks with BAE. Unite said it wanted to clarify which sites will be hit by the jobs cull and would press for redundancies to be voluntary.

Ian Waddell, Unite's national officer for aerospace, said: "These job losses will be a hammer blow to the UK defence industry, which is already reeling with the consequences of the Government's "buy off the shelf" policy.

"We will be seeking urgent talks with BAE Systems to try and clarify where these jobs are under threat and to work with them to avoid compulsory redundancies wherever possible."