Staff at a Burgess Hill firm fear for their jobs once again as the future of a key contract is thrown into doubt.

CAE Electronics had been chosen to provide training for a battlefield radio by the Bowman consortium, which was to build the system.

But Bowman has been unexpectedly ditched by the Ministry of Defence which has launched an open competition for the £2.2 billion project.

CAE Electronics could now lose out in the race to provide training, managers told workers yesterday.

CAE announced 50 job cuts as part of a restructuring programme in March and there are concerns more could follow.

A senior source at the plant said the Government decision would impact on the plant but he could not say whether jobs would be lost.

He said: "We see this as a setback."

Burgess Hill has been hit by a series of job loses in the past year, with 150 factory workers being made redundant at Knowles Electronics and 130 jobs lost at the Filofax plant.

The training contract could still go to CAE if it is chosen by the successful bidder or if the Bowman consortium, led by Archer Communication Systems, manages to regain the right to build the radio.

CAE is believed to have approached other consortiums bidding for the work.

Bowman was chosen as the preferred supplier of the system in 1997 but procurement minister Baroness Symons said she was not convinced it could deliver the radios quickly or cheaply enough.