The £40m contract could safeguard jobs for the next 18 months

Appledore Shipbuilders in north Devon are waiting to hear if a cash wrangle can be resolved.

The £40m contract for a wind farm barge is dependent on a loan guarantee from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

The shipyard has already put its workforce of nearly 500 on a three-day week - but the contract would safeguard jobs for the next 18 months.

Almost 100 redundancy notices have been issued to staff but that has now been extended until next month.

The company wants to start a contract to build a ship for wind turbines.

The issue is over a loan guarantee - or how much the company ordering the vessel can borrow against its value when it is actually built.

That affects the amount of money that can be raised by a government-owned lender to pay for the work.

It also affects the future of the shipyard.

It was hoped a decision would be made on Tuesday, but that has been put off for two weeks.