YORKSHIRE Water is axing about 200 jobs over the next 18 months as part of a restructure.

Although the Bradford-based company said no individual roles had yet been identified for the chop, the cutbacks would come mainly from support services and management positions.

Yorkshire Water, which has about 2,400 employees and is based on Halifax Road, said it was working with unions to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: "Like many water companies, Yorkshire Water has for some time been working on a number of initiatives to meet the challenges of the future.

"Challenges such as those posed by the Water Act 2014 and the introduction of greater retail competition, Ofwat's recent Draft Determination, new regulatory performance commitments and our own, vision and business objectives.

"To meet all these challenges we are restructuring the business to ensure we can continue to deliver a great service for our customers and keep bills as low as possible.

"We estimate that the company restructure will result in 200 fewer roles in the business over the next 18 months, mainly from support services and management positions..

"We have currently engaged in formal consultation with the unions and are proactively speaking with colleagues about how the changes may affect them, looking at what can be achieved through natural employee turnover and vacancy management in the first instance.

"We have issued a joint statement with trade unions that represent our employees outlining our commitment to work together to minimise the need for compulsory redundancies."