HUNDREDS of jobs are to be lost at the company providing water to homes across Worcestershire.

Today Coventry-based Severn Trent Water announced plans to reduce the amount of managers and support workers would put 500 jobs on the chopping block.

But the firm, which employs 6,000 people in the UK, said the changes would create 100 new front-line roles and there were currently no plans for job losses in that area.

A statement released by the company said: "In bringing the water and waste water operations businesses together we have identified areas of synergies, duplication and opportunities to work with less management and support roles.

"There are no plans to reduce the number of customer facing front line operational roles in our customer care or wholesale operation.

"We will work together to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies.

“We have already had recruitment controls in place since July and are reducing the number of contractors and temporary resources.

“We will also seek volunteers for redundancy in areas where we need to lose roles.

“We are hopeful that these measures will keep any need for compulsory redundancies to an absolute minimum."

Regional officer of the GMB union Stuart Richards said the organisation was in talks with Severn Trent with a view to minimising the need for compulsory redundancies.

Severn Trent supplies water to almost eight million people in the Midlands and Wales and in 2007 relocated to Coventry from its previous headquarters in Sheldon, Birmingham.