UP TO 3,000 jobs in chemical plants across Merseyside, Wirral and Cheshire are at risk because of new European safety rules.

Proposed new regulations from the EU will force chemical companies to bear the cost of testing in excess of 30,000 substances.

The Confederation of British Industry will today issue a warning that the move could lead to thousands of jobs being lost to the Far East.

It says a tenth of all jobs in the UK chemical industry could be wiped out.

Merseyside and Cheshire have one of the highest concentrations of chemical plants in the UK. The industry is the region's second biggest employer after engineering, employing 30,000 people.

The proposed EU Chemicals Strategy - known as REACH - will require chemical manufacturers to conduct a safety assessment and to register the substances that they produce. The most hazardous chemicals will need to be authorised.

The aims of the proposed new regulation, which replaces 40 different pieces of legislation, are to increase protection of human health and the environment from exposure to chemicals, while at the same time maintaining the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.

Last night, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce spokesman Stephen Pearse said: "We have concerns about the proposed EU regulations.

"The chemical industry is crucial to our local economy and is a major employer. We support high standards, but there are concerns about the way in which the standards are implemented.

"The chemical industry is generally well managed with a good safety record. We need to be alert about the impact of what the EU is doing."

The CBI fears 10pc of the 250,000 chemical jobs in the industry across the UK are under threat as a direct result of the EU act.

In a bid to halt what is says will be the "decimation" of the industry, the CBI is launching a campaign today to fight the proposed legislation.

It says business is continuing to struggle with the cost of environmental legislation. The huge new EU testing programme could cost up to £6bn and would impact on al l companies using chemicals.

It could, warns the CBI, be the death knell for some companies in the chemical industry Now the CBI is writing to Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, urging her to ensure the extent and cost of the extra work imposed by the new regulation is dramatically scaled back.