AN EAST Lancashire MP has called on the Government to commit itself to the Eurofighter Typhoon in a bid to prevent further job losses at BAE Systems.

The company announced yesterday that up to 132 jobs are to go at its high tech plant at Samlesbury after a review of the site's operations showed it was overmanned. But Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans claimed that uncertainty over the second batch of orders for the plane from the Ministry of Defence was adding to job fears.

"It is obviously disappointing that so many redundancies are being made," said Mr Evans. "Now that the Eurofighter Typhoon is in full production, there was an assumption there would be work for at least 10 years. I shall be writing to the Secretary of State for Defence to ask him to bring forward confirmation of the second tranche of Typhoons. That would underline the Government's commitment to the strong defence manufacturing capability we have in Lancashire and end all this uncertainty."

BAE employs around 4,000 people at Samlesbury and union leaders are hoping that retraining and redeployment would avoid the need for any redundancies. Convenor Neil Sheeham said the Transport and General Workers Union would be opposing any compulsory redundancies, but ruled out the prospect of any immediate industrial action.