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Workers at under-threat shipyard Harland and Wolff have locked the main gates in a protest over fears it could close as early as this week.

Trade Unionists are calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to step in and nationalise the company and have launched a disruptive protest, hanging a banner from one if the shipyard's iconic cranes.

Workers have vowed they will not leave until a resolution is agreed on to keep the shipbuilder - which once employed tens of thousands of workers to support Allied forces during WW1 - to stay open.

A large banner draped on the Goliath crane reads: "Save Our Shipyard".

The business has been put up for sale by its Norwegian owners.

(Image: Alan Lewis- PhotopressBelfast.co.uk)

Unite’s Regional Coordinating Officer Susan Fitzgerald said: “Workers fighting to preserve Harland and Wolff deserve the support of everyone concerned for the future of jobs and skills in Northern Ireland.

"Prime Minister Boris Johnson will this week make his first visit to Northern Ireland as PM, and Unite is again calling on his government to nationalise Harland and Wolff and cooperate with the workers to chart a way forward for the yard.

“I’ve no doubt that that other workers, trade unionists and the broader community will flock to support these workers in their efforts to secure jobs and a future.”

GMB Regional Organiser Michael Mulholland said the Scottish government is drawing up plans to nationalise the Ferguson shipyard on the Clyde, and said it would be ironic if one of Boris Johnson’s first acts as Prime Minister was to let Harland and Wolff “sink by default":

He said: " Shipyards such as Harland and Wolff or Ferguson are vital to any country’s commercial and defence infrastructure.

(Image: Alan Lewis- PhotopressBelfast.co.uk)

"However, it seems Mr Johnson has yet to realise this and is prepared to allow Harland and Wolff to sink by default. The protest by workers today is an indication of their determination not to allow this to happen”.

Joe Passmore from the Unite union said: "We have tried to get the politicians to step in and help but we're not getting anywhere.

"If this place goes, it's not just our own jobs, it's all the suppliers right through east Belfast and beyond , as well as the jobs and legacy for our children and future generations."

Mr Passmore, a steelworker who has worked at the iconic shipyard for 30 years, added if a deal couldn't be made, the government should step in to nationalise the company.

It is understood the company is making efforts to find a buyer.

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