Jobs to be axed at city shipyard

Work on two aircraft carriers will still be done in Portsmouth

Up to 100 jobs will be axed at a shipyard in Portsmouth as part of a wider move to cut 135 UK posts.

About 1,200 staff are employed at BVT Surface Fleet International, which was created in July in a joint venture between BAE Systems and VT Group.

The company said the move was to remove job duplication and was not related to the economic slump.

BVT said it would be offering voluntary redundancy and had entered a three-month consultation period with unions.

Charles Thompson, from BAE, said the decision was not in any way related to a lack of work.

"We are in excellent health and have a £5bn order book," he said.

"We will continue to grow the business and are committed to ongoing recruitment of apprentices and graduates.

"This move will help us remove duplication on posts, which arose following the creation of BVT Surface Fleet."

'Natural attrition'

BVT is building two new Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers and Type 45 Destroyers.

According the Prospect Union, which represents staff at BVT, the cuts "threaten its [BVT's] ability to deliver the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers on time".

But BVT said that was "categorically not true", and that most jobs would be lost through "natural attrition".

John Ferrett, Prospect's negotiations officer, said: "This is devastating news for our members who have been transferred to BVT."

Work on the aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will still be carried out in Portsmouth.