British Gas announces 500 job cuts

British Gas is to cut 500 jobs primarily in its energy efficiency business as it tries to reduce its costs.

Most of the posts being cut are based in Leeds, Oxford and Leicester and will include staff who deal in loft insulation and cavity wall insulation.

British Gas boss Mark Hodges said: "We must ensure that our costs allow us to be competitive for our customers."

The company has a workforce of 28,000 in the UK.

Unions described the announcement affecting the insulation teams as a "sickener", saying staff affected by the news felt "gutted".

Brian Strutton of the GMB union said: "At the end of last year, we went through a reorganisation which we were told was to make the business more competitive and everyone thought that was behind us.

"But it seems while we were doing that, the company was hatching secret plans to shut the whole operation down."

British Gas, which is Britain's largest energy supplier, has not yet said when the job cuts will come into force.