Defence contracts that would keep North-East shipyards in work and safeguard hundreds of jobs could be announced within weeks.

Bosses at Swan Hunter have been pressing the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for interim work before it begins an aircraft carrier project.

John Mitchell, project director, said: "We are pushing very hard to see if the ministry has anything we can do for them.

"They have indicated they are still looking and there will be something.

"We would hope something would happen in the next few months and are fairly optimistic."

About 100 jobs at the Wallsend yard, in North Tyneside, will go next month when work is completed on Largs Bay, an auxiliary landing vessel for the Royal Navy.

The contract for its sister ship, Lyme Bay, will carry the yard through to next year.

But once that is completed, there is nothing for the yard until work begins on two Royal Navy aircraft carriers in 2008. Swan chairman Jaap Kroese warned last year he would have to mothball the yards, at a cost of 1,500 jobs, if extra work was not found.

Last month, the MoD paid £84m to the yard after costs soared on the £160m auxiliary landing vessel contract.

The group, which also has a yard at Port Clarence, on Teesside, last night denied it was involved in a dispute with Companies House over late accounts.

A spokesman for Companies House confirmed yesterday that the accounts in question had now been received.