A CITY MP says he feels sorry for Plymouth's military families ahead of an announcement of Royal Navy cuts, writes Defence Reporter Tristan Nichols.

Oliver Colvile, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said he feels "very sorry" for the Plymouth servicemen and women who are affected by the announcement which is expected on Friday.

A leading national newspaper yesterday claimed "several dozen" of the 250 sailors from the recently decommissioned Devonport frigate, HMS Cumberland, are to lose their jobs.

The report claims they will be among 400 to be told on Friday that they no longer have jobs in the Royal Navy.

HMS Cumberland, a former Type 22 frigate, was decommissioned in June after helping to rescue British citizens from Libya in February after tensions rose.

It was the first warship to be sent to enforce the blockade on Libya.

The newspaper reports suggest other Devonport-based ships could also feel the brunt of the Government cuts with the report suggesting crews from eight of the 10 other ships which took part in the Libyan campaign could also be in line for the sack.

In total four Devonport warships and a Plymouth-based submarine took part in the Libyan conflict – code-named 'Operation Ellamy'.

These include HMS Cumberland, HMS Ocean, HMS Sutherland, HMS Albion and the nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Triumph.

Mr Colvile blamed the cuts on the former Labour Government's defence overspend.

He said: "I am very sorry for the service families in Plymouth who have worked very hard but I am afraid there has been some notice of this happening.

"This was always likely to happen.

"Unless we sort out the shortfall we will find ourselves without a navy."

Gary Streeter, South West Devon Tory MP, said: "It is regrettable news.

"We all reluctantly expect reduction in our navy, but I think it awful that people who have just returned from Libya are likely to see P45s.

"It just sticks in the throat."

Alison Seabeck, Labour's MP for Plymouth Moor View, added: "These cuts will not only have an impact on the families of those affected, people who have served their country most recently in Libya, but it will have a wider impact on Plymouth's economy and when you couple this with cuts announced in the defence industry this really does give cause for concern."

Yesterday the national newspaper said it understood the Government would issue compulsory redundancy notices to up to 400 officers and ratings out of 1,100 navy personnel who will lose their jobs in the first round of Ministry of Defence (MoD) redundancies.

Further cuts to the Royal Navy are expected in March next year.

The plans to cut posts were announced earlier this year as part of a programme which could see 11,000 redundancies across the RAF, Army and Royal Navy by April 2015 in an effort to bring the defence budget under control.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "No-one who is preparing for operations or deployed on operations on the day that redundancy notices are issued will be made redundant unless they have volunteered.

"Only those who have returned from operations and have taken all their operational leave will be considered.

"We need to structure our forces to ensure that they are sufficiently flexible and adaptable to meet the demands of an uncertain future.

"The decisions we are making are not easy but they will help to defend the UK, protect our interests overseas and enable us to work effectively with allies and partners to deliver greater security and stability in the wider world."

Meanwhile BAE Systems yesterday confirmed it intends to cut 3,000 jobs across the UK.

Job losses are likely at Brough, Samlesbury, Preston and Warton but there could be knock-on effects in Yeovil and other areas across the country.