FOUR key officers at North Wiltshire District Council will be made redundant in January to create a new management structure, saving nearly quarter of a million pounds.

A management tier will be taken out, and the number of business managers reduced following a streamlining of the Corporate Management Board.

Currently, the district council has a chief executive, two directors and six business managers.

From January 5 it will have a chief executive and five new strategic managers.

Directors Bob Gwilliam and Jeff Penfold will be leaving, along with business managers Bernard Rymer and Mike Pritchard.

Chief executive Bob Marshall said the restructuring was a continuation of the streamlining undertaken two years ago when the district council moved into the new offices at Monkton Park.

He said: "We decided at that time we would not change the chief executive and two directors because they were needed to oversee the move and the new structure. We said it would be looked at again when we were settled in to the new offices."

The cost of the four redundancies will be £740,000 but the district council will make savings of £222,000 a year.

"It is not as significant a change as the earlier one, when we moved into the new offices," said Mr Marshall.

"In terms of disruption to the organisation it is far less than happened two years ago."

Bernard Rymer has worked for the district council for 26 years, Mike Pritchard for six, Jeff Penfold and Bob Gwilliam for 15.

Mr Gwilliam, 56, who lives in Worton, said he intended to undertake consultancy work with local authorities and the health service.

"I am also a grandfather and I would like to spend more time with my family and fewer evenings attending meetings," he said.

He cites the Calne centre redevelopment and the building of the Northern Distributor road as the projects he was most proud to work on.

He said: "The Calne centre regeneration was tricky and hard work, but rewarding," he said.

Coun Dianne Moore, chairman of the personnel, licensing and administration committee said: "We are delighted that the final stage of the new structure has now been completed.

"We are confident that the new corporate management board will help us meet the challenges of the future and help achieve our vision of improving north Wiltshire."

Coun Philip Allnatt had mixed feelings about the changes.

He said it was a good thing to lose two senior directors to reduce the number of staff and the salary bill.

"Ever since housing went out of our control there has been a need to downsize the organisation and it's going on across the country," he said.

"I think the move to non-specific managers is a bad thing, because it weakens the staff career structure."