NORTH Yorkshire's three Labour MPs are being pushed to change the way businesses are to be charged for the amount of energy they use.

Engineers and manufacturers in the region have lobbied the MPs to change the Government's Climate Change Levy proposals.

The MPs - Hugh Bayley for York, Laurie Quinn for Scarborough and Whitby and John Grogan for Selby are among 32 in the region approached by the Yorkshire and Humberside Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF).

The EEF regional director Ian Hughes has warned that, should the levy go through unchanged in a pre-budget report and end up as law next April, companies feared increases in energy bills of up to 19 per cent.

He warns that the Government's plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in to the atmosphere, thereby contributing to global warming, would badly affect smaller companies which by the nature of their product are relatively large energy users.

Under the levy plan negotiated agreements provide groups of companies with a big reduction in the amount of levy they pay - typically 80 per cent - in exchange for meeting agreed energy-efficiency targets

But Mr Hughes wants the MPs to back an EEF call for an amendment which would provide an extension to negotiated agreements and guarantee them access to better capital allowances to help them invest in energy-efficient technology.

He says: "There are many engineering companies in the region that employ small numbers of staff but have high energy bills and will therefore be particularly badly affected by the levy."

The amendments proposed by the EEF would aid substantial energy reduction programmes, helping to benefit the environment, while preserving the competitiveness of Yorkshire's manufacturing industry.

Mr Hughes said: "Companies need encouragement to invest in energy reduction measures rather than be penalised.

"While we are keen to help the Government meet its obligations under the Kyoto Agreement, these proposals present a real threat to the competitiveness of Yorkshire companies at a time when they are already under great pressure."