RAIL firm Bombardier's plea for the suspension of contractual charges during the crisis has received backing from Crewe and Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan.

Bombardier has told the government that pausing bond repayments and penalties for delivery delays will save it £20million a month.

The MP held a socially distanced meeting this week with the Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris to push for changes to the rules on how rail companies pay bills to government.

He supports the proposal to introduce temporary changes in the payments to support increased investment during the current crisis.

"Bombardier is a key local employer that wants to continue to invest in its Crewe site. Their ideas for reform were a sensible way to free up cash for them to spend without any cost to the taxpayers," he said.

"I pushed the Minister to back their ideas and I am optimistic their proposals will be looked at positively. While we have had difficult news from other employers in the town, I want to help create opportunities wherever I can."

And the MP added: "I am due to meet with the jobs minister as well to see what more can be done for Bentley staff facing redundancy. Creating additional jobs locally is one way we can tackle this."