HOPE is on the horizon for North-East shipbuilders after it was revealed that stricken shipbuilders Cammell Laird could be in line to receive Ministry of Defence contracts.

It means that jobs at the ship repair yard on the banks of the river Tees could be re-opened after the yard was mothballed on Friday, leaving about 110 workers redundant.

The new contracts would involve refurbishing naval ships and defence secretary Geoff Hoon has given the company permission to put a bid in to refit Royal Fleet Auxillary vessels.

Vera Baird, prospective parliamentary candidate for Redcar, east Cleveland, was hoping to meet Mr Hoon and Trade and Industry secretary Stephen Byers last night to ensure the Teesside yard is not left out of any rescue package put together by the Government.

Ms Baird said: "The highly skilled workforce has done valuable and profitable business on ships such as the Crystal Ocean, which is due to leave the yard in the next few days.

"There are many more ships which need maintenance and repair work, and it is in the national interest that the work is undertaken on the Tees."

A spokeswoman at PricewaterhouseCooper said the receiver was going through a "period of consolidation" and was looking for a purchaser to buy the company as a going concern.

She said that if a buyer was found and the Ministry of Defence orders were successful, there was a possibility of shipyard workers on Teesside being reinstated in their jobs.