NESTLE has announced plans to cut almost 600 jobs in the UK and close one of its sites in Newcastle.

The food giant want to close its Fawdon site in Newcastle upon Tyne by the end of 2023.

It said that this move would put around 475 jobs at risk and put a further 98 jobs on the line in York.

Nestle said the cuts come after plans to support the company’s long-term success in an increasingly competitive market.

The company said it was proposing changes to adapt its confectionery manufacturing for the future, with a £29.4 million investment at its factories in York and Halifax.

The proposed changes would create a more efficient manufacturing footprint and, in turn, allow greater strategic investment in Nestle’s biggest confectionery brands.

North Wales Chronicle: (Tom White/PA)(Tom White/PA)

The company said: “Nestle Confectionery has an ambitious business strategy in the UK and these proposals are intended to support our long-term success in an increasingly competitive category.

“The proposed changes would create a more efficient manufacturing footprint and, in turn, allow greater strategic investment in Nestle’s biggest confectionery brands.

“We have chosen to announce these proposals as early as possible to provide the maximum time for consultation with our colleagues and trade unions.”

The GMB union said it was “sickening” that lives were being “ruined in a ruthless pursuit of profits”.

The factory at Fawdon, which first opened in 1958, makes products including Fruit Pastilles, while the York site manufactures Kit Kats.

Nestle, which employs 8,000 workers in the UK, is proposing to move production of products from Fawdon to other factories in the UK and Europe.