SCOTTISH Tories yesterday called on the Government to step in with financial help to secure the future of the Kvaerner Govan shipyard on the Clyde, while Kvaerner said it had been inspired to pull out all the stops to find a buyer after support from Prime Minister Tony Blair.

As talks continued, Kvaerner said the latest day it could tell workers whether their jobs had been saved was Monday, so negotiations will be stepped up today and over the weekend.

The Government-appointed task force met managers at Kvaerner in London yesterday to see if any progress could be made on a possible deal for the shipyard with GEC Marconi Electronic Systems, which had a #1m offer turned down earlier this week because Kvaerner objected to a clause in the deal with would have meant the Anglo-Norwegian company would continue to be responsible for redundancy costs for a further five years after the sale.

Time is now running out for the 1200-strong workforce, who were issued with redundancy notices this week. The company is seeking 250 voluntary redundancies in the first instance, following its decision in April to pull out of its worldwide shipbuilding interests.

The deputy leader of the Scottish Tories, Miss Annabel Goldie, said Ministers could speed up a successful purchase of the yard in the same way that aid was given to BMW to maintain the Rover car plant at Longbridge.

She said: ''If the Government saw fit to endorse a process with Longbridge, which was looking at a national economic interest, surely in what is a much smaller economy in the Scottish context a similar attitude could be extended.''

Miss Goldie said that if the Scottish Executive could spend almost #1m on support staff, it could help the Govan yard. ''Who will deliver more service to Scotland? The workers of Kvaerner or the ancillary staff to Donald Dewar's legions?''

She said Kvaerner could not be compared to the subsidised industries of the 1960s and 70s. ''Kvaerner was an active, modern shipyard with an order book, but it does not now seem to fit in with the company's corporate plan.'' Any State help, she said, would be a ''stepping stone over a difficult period''. She urged Kvaerner and GEC to conclude their negotiations quickly, warning: ''The resolve of the workforce is being dissipated.''

In the Commons on Wednesday, Mr Blair applauded the ''passion and dignity'' with which the workforce was fighting to save their jobs. A spokesman for Kvaerner said yesterday: ''We welcome the encouraging comments from the Prime Minister yesterday and I think that is helping to try and engage minds a little today and tomorrow.

''There was a meeting with the task force this morning at which we said we are really focused on trying to find a solution and welcome the task force's help in this. We said we were happy to entertain further discussion with GEC as long as they come back with another offer.'' He added: ''We have accepted that the very latest we can advise individuals would be Monday.''

Unions were remaining upbeat yesterday after their representatives' meeting in London on Wednesday with Kvaerner management and with Clydeside MPs.

GMB Scotland's regional secretary Robert Parker said: ''GMB Scotland still believes that there are the right ingredients for a deal between Kvaerner and GEC. The meetings yesterday between the workers, management and Scottish MPs were positive.''

A spokesman for GEC said the door had not been closed on a future deal with Kvaerner, saying: ''There have been some conversations today which might well lead to further conversations as I understand it.''