THREE MPs have joined forces to fight the closure of a Hampshire military base.

Tory MP Julian Lewis and Labour MPs John Denham and Alan Whitehead have written a letter to new Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett asking her to press the Americans to reconsider a plan to close RAF Hythe in September.

The 11-acre shipyard at Shore Road, Hythe, employs more than 200 civilians to service and repair American military boats. It is one of the largest employers on the Waterside and contributes £4.5m to the UK economy.

The decision to withdraw from the base is believed to have been taken as part of a wider reduction of American forces stationed in western Europe.

Opponents of the plan say the US Army made the move against the advice of its own experts and suspect the Hampshire employees have been targeted because they are easier to sack than workers on the continent.

The letter to the Foreign Office reads: "We write to seek your help urgently in connection with the proposal to close this facility - the last significant American Army base in the UK.

"If this happens, as currently indicated, by the end of September, 200 highly-skilled British employees will lose their jobs, despite the fact that the US Army Audit Agency recommended in March that retaining the base was by far the most reliable and cost-effective option.

"Not only will 200 of our constituents and their families suffer, in Southampton and on the Waterside, but so will dozens of small and medium-sized firms, up and down the country, which do regular work for the base."

It concludes: "Would you be willing to send a note to your US counterpart, asking for this matter to be reconsidered?"

Mr Lewis, MP for New Forest East, said: "If Mrs Beckett can be persuaded to write a letter personally I can't think of anything else more likely to have an influence on the Americans.

"I would be cautiously optimistic that she will at least consider conscientiously to do this."

John Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, said: "By the nature of Hythe, the contracting firms aren't limited to that narrow bit of the Waterside. There has always been a fair amount of the labour force drawn from the city of Southampton.

"If there is any way of persuading US to rethink the closure we are very happy to lend our support."