BAE retains cross-Solent ferry work at Portsmouth

Two protests have been held by Portsmouth workers facing redundancy

BAE Systems has signed new deals to extend its maintenance and repair contracts with two Solent ferry firms.

Wightlink and Red Funnel ferries help carry about seven million passengers to the Isle of Wight from Southampton, Portsmouth and Lymington every year.

The contracts will see seven Wighlink vessels and three Red Funnel Raptor Class ships maintained in Portsmouth.

It comes after BAE Systems announced 940 jobs were to be cut there, bringing to an end shipbuilding in the city.

The cuts are still going ahead and a trawl for voluntary redundancies was starting on Monday.

Workers were told last week that the job cuts would be phased in by 2016 and those facing redundancy have held two protests in Portsmouth.

A further 835 job losses have also been announced by BAE at sites in Glasgow, Rosyth, and Filton.