HUNDREDS of jobs are under threat at the Basingtoke office of insurance giant Axa.

The firm has announced it plans to shed up to 350 jobs as part of a bid to reduce costs by £150m.

The reductions are planned within Axa UK's life business, which employs about 3,500 people in Basingstoke, Bristol, Coventry.

Axa said it was extending a three-year cost cutting programme announced last August, from £80m to £150m.

The firm is consulting unions over the job cuts and hopes to reduce numbers where possible through staff turnover and redeployment. The group has already announced more than 1,000 headcount reductions over the past gear.

Unite regional officer David Kennedy said: “Unite is obviously extremely concerned about the potential impact of this on our members. In these difficult financial times, this announcement will only serve to cause them more anxiety and stress.

“We understand that AXA Life is concerned about its cost base and level of profitability, however this must not be used as an excuse for the short term slashing of jobs.

“We will scrutinise and robustly challenge these plans as appropriate and will expect AXA Life to make every effort to avoid compulsory redundancies.”

Axa unveiled plans to reduce its UK support services operation by 500 staff last August, followed more recently with news in June of around 560 job losses in its insurance division.

Axa has also said it will slash costs in its Axa PPP healthcare arm, although this is not expected to lead to further job losses Nicolas Moreau, group chief executive of AXA UK, said measures taken over the past year to cut costs and improve efficiency are showing ''considerable progress''.

''We are continuing to transform AXA UK to operate with increased efficiency and effectiveness and ensure that we come out of the market downturn fitter and stronger,'' he said.

The proposed staff cuts come as Axa UK and Ireland reported an 18 per cent slump in life and savings business in the first six months of the year, to £441m. Half-year revenues remained flat at its general insurance and healthcare insurance business, at £1.87bn.

The group said underlying earnings in the overall UK & Ireland business rose 2 per cent to £186m, although it revealed this was boosted by a £106m one-off gain.