A joint initiative aimed at securing the future of Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick has been launched in the town.

Pendle Council, the North West Development Agency (NWDA) and Barnoldswick Town Council signed a concordat at Rolls-Royce during a visit to the company's two sites in Barnoldswick - Bankfield and Ghyll Brow.

It is seen as a tangible statement of the company's commitment to Barnoldswick.

Fears grew for the future of Rolls-Royce in Barnoldswick when it cut its local workforce by more than a quarter in the wake of the terrorist attacks in America on September 11.

Across the UK, Rolls-Royce announced it would shed 3,800 jobs in response to the global downturn in the aerospace industry.

In Barnoldswick, the workforce of 1,080 would be cut by 295, most of those redundancies to be achieved before the end of March this year.

That figure was later reduced by 45 jobs when workers agreed to cut their working week, that agreement to be reviewed in September.

Rolls-Royce also announced it would look at closing down it's Ghyll Brow site, on the edge of Barnoldswick, and concentrating its operations at the larger Bankfield site. It is understood the company is still assessing the viability of such a move.

Stephen Barnes, Pendle Council's chief executive, said: "Rolls-Royce is a major employer in the borough and has a long and important history in Pendle. We, as the local authority, want to play our part in doing everything we can to assist with the success in their operations in the borough and are committed, as are all the other parties, to working together to achieve this objective.

"The concordat signifies a new relationship with Rolls-Royce and one which we hope will prove of benefit to the company, its local suppliers and the people of Pendle."