THE region's shipbuilders have been given an assurance by the Government that they will receive work on an aircraft carrier project.

Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Scotland, told the Commons the work would be shared between shipyards in Tyneside and Portsmouth, and Govan and Rosyth, in Scotland.

The Government had already indicated that was the case two years ago, but some parts of the work were recently thrown into doubt.

It has been reported that Swan Hunter, which has yards in Tyneside and Teesside, would receive less of the work than was thought.

Yesterday, The Northern Echo reported that Swan Hunter had rejected a proposal by the Ministry of Defence for an alliance between the country's major shipyards to end the so-called boom and bust cycle in the industry.

The refusal could jeopardise Swan's ability to secure future contracts.

But last night David Bowles, chief executive of Northern Defence Industries, said the work would secure the future of the industry in the North-East.

Earlier this week, Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), part of US company Halliburton, was awarded the contract to manage the construction of the ships.

Yesterday, Mr Darling said: "We anticipate that, subject to value for money, the carriers will be built potentially at four sites in the UK - at Govan, Portsmouth, Tyneside and Rosyth."

BAE Systems and French group Thales will build the ships. The companies will subcontract work to Swan Hunter and other shipyards.

A defence expert said Swan Hunter was more likely to build the hull and carry out the steel work on the ships, while other shipyards would install the military fittings.

But he said Swan Hunter would have to develop its military technology skills and work with the other shipbuilders in the North-East to have any kind of future in defence contracts.

Andrew Sugden, North East Chamber of Commerce director of policy, said: "This is a vote of confidence for the world-renowned shipbuilding skills of the North-East workforce.

"We must keep our fingers crossed, as the final decision on who will do the work is dependent on successfully passing a value-for-money test, but the Government will be hard-pressed to find the quality and expertise that Swan Hunter possesses - elsewhere in this country or abroad.