HOPES are rising that hundreds of jobs facing the axe at Vosper Thornycroft can be saved after workers took their fight to Parliament yesterday.

Nearly 150 employees made a desperate plea to six Hampshire MPs to help the Woolston shipyard secure its long term future.

The cross-party MPs pledged to work together to fight the company's corner and stave off a threatened 650 redundancies.

And a delegation from the company was teaming up today with union officials to lobby ministers at Westmin-ster to get the contract signed for the next generation of Type 45 destroyers.

The mood on the three coaches that travelled to Westminster yesterday was good humoured but determined as the workforce made a last-ditch effort to save their livelihoods.

Not even a torrential storm that broke as they marched waving banners and placards to the House of Commons could dampen their spirits.

The MPs - Alan Whitehead, John Denham, David Chidgey Julian Lewis, Sir Peter Lloyd and Syd Rapson, the Ports-mouth North MP - listened as they outlined a bleak future for shipbuilding in the South. Mike Budd, chairman of the Confederation of Shipbuild-ing and Engineering Unions Southampton Branch said the response from the politicians had been excellent.

He said: "I think we had a very positive meeting and the MPs were receptive to what we were saying.

"They are supporting us in every way they can and they have promised to take up our plight with ministers, especially towards getting short-term contracts. We had terrific support and could not have asked for anything better."

Mr Budd said: "Workers did not want to move from South-ampton to Portsmouth, which is the firm's preferred site for the Type 45 work, and MPs should support the yard."

Southampton Itchen MP John Denham said ministers had been fully aware of the potential catastrophe of an end to shipbuilding in the South and competition in the industry.

He told workers: "There is a shadow hanging over the workforce and the government should do whatever it can. We have been busy lobbying ministers and we will continue to do this. We need to get across to ministers just how urgent the situation is."

Southampton Test MP Alan White-head said the prime contractor to build the Type 45, BAE Systems, would be in breach of the contract and the government's policy if it was trying to secure a monopoly position at the expense of VT.

The meeting was told that the company could abandon shipbuilding altogether if there were further delays in signing the contracts and if an order book gap was not filled.