DEBT-LADEN cable group NTL is to slash its workforce by up to 4,000 in a move that could affect Swindon workers.

The firm, based in Hook, Hampshire, employs 17,000 across the country, including those at its Swindon-based operations centre on the Hawksworth Industrial Estate.

It says it wants to claw back costs through a mixture of voluntary and compulsory redundancies, but it will not say where the job losses will happen.

The company, which has been embarrassed in the Evening Advertiser by frequent reports about dissatisfied customers, has already slashed 4,800 jobs this year.

Only last month, it announced it was closing its customer services shop in Regent Circus, Swindon.

NTL has now announced a redundancy programme, a pay freeze for managers and a review of all its costs and expenses.

It says staff at call centres are safe from the cuts, but Swindon's workforce contains no call centre staff.

Spokeswoman Liz Nicholson would not say how many staff worked in Swindon, let alone whether they might be affected.