FEARS for future production at BAE Systems military aircraft factories at Samlesbury and Warton have been expressed by Hyndburn MP Graham Jones.

He raised three major programmes in the House of Commons - the Typhoon Eurofighter, the Hawk trainer and the Taranis stealth drone prototype.

Mr Jones told junior defence minister Guto Bebb: "Protecting our sovereign military aerospace capability is very important.

"However, the Typhoon orders will last only until 2026; we have no new orders for the Hawk until the Qatar deal comes through; and Taranis is being kept in a big hangar and we do not really know what is happening with it. What is the position of our UK aerospace defence industries?"

Mr Bebb said ministers were holding discussions with the Qatari Defence Minister about further Typhoon and Hawk orders.

He added: "We launched the combat air strategy so that we would have an idea of how we should proceed. The United Kingdom has a huge capability in this sphere and we need to build on it."