Campaigners say skills should be retained at Barrow

The BAE Systems yard in Barrow is currently involved in building submarines for the Royal Navy.

But it is also bidding to be part of a multi-billion pound aircraft carrier building programme.

A trade union-led campaign - Keep Our Future Afloat - wants ministers to help retain vital skills in Cumbria.

Campaigners will tell party officials that Barrow has a huge skills base, which is in danger of disappearing if the yard does not secure further defence contracts.

'Value for money'

Terry Waiting, chairman of the campaign said: "We need an order for a batch of four new submarines in order to sustain employment and secure economies of scale for the industrial base.

"We are in Brighton to inform ministers about the benefits such an order will bring for the nation, not only in terms of value for money, but also for the shipbuilding industrial base.

"We believe that the region's experience gained in building large warships at the vast shipyard in Barrow, can be used to make the Royal Navy's two planned aircraft carriers really affordable.

"Barrow should therefore be involved in building large sections of the aircraft carriers."

Campaigners say that as well as the hundreds of jobs directly affected at Barrow, there are a further 1,700 throughout the region which depend on the yard's survival.