THE national defence contractor BAE Systems is to cut 1,005 jobs across four UK sites after reviewing operations at its aircraft-related businesses.

The overhaul reflects changes made recently to BAE's Nimrod patrol aircraft programme, which was the subject of cost overruns earlier this year.

Details of the Nimrod jobs review come a month after it emerged cost overruns on two key defence projects would reach a total of £1.5bn.

Under a deal with the Ministry of Defence, the taxpayer will now pay an extra £700m to fund the Nimrod and Astute submarines programmes while BAE Systems will take on an extra £750m in costs.

The two projects, launched in 1996 and 1997, suffered "serious difficulties" as the effort required to do the work was underestimated, resulting in consequent design delays and a shock profits warning in December.

The staff cuts involve divisions covering air systems, aerostructures, regional aircraft and customers' solutions and support.

Jobs retained on the Nimrod programme will ensure that the development aircraft are prepared for full ground and flight testing.

Steve Mogford, chief operating officer of programmes, described the job losses as regrettable and pledged to mitigate the impact on the workforce.

He said: "The Nimrod programme is a very important project for us, and the capability it will bring to the MoD is second to none in the world.

"But we must take into consideration the time it will take to get sufficient design and development maturity to allow for decisions about pricing and location for production."

John Wall, national officer at the Amicus union, said he would be seeking urgent talks with the company over the job losses.

"We are disappointed at the scale of the cutback.

"We understand that the company is experiencing problems but we would have liked the opportunity to try to mitigate the suffering of our members."

Reduced workloads will result in 492 job losses at Woodford, Cheshire, 154 at Chadderton, near Manchester, 195 at Prestwick, in Ayrshire, and a further 164 at Warton, Lancashire.