COMPUTER giant Hewlett Packard is to axe 1,300 jobs in the UK and switch work overseas, union leaders said today.

Unite branded the news “butchery”, saying the cuts came on top of 900 job losses announced in June to take place by the end of October.

Nearly 4,000 jobs have now been cut by the company throughout the UK over the past two years, with the figure now set to rise to almost 6,000, said Unite.

The company has sites across the UK, including in Belfast, Bracknell, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Erskine (Scotland), Hook (Hampshire), London, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Peterlee, Sheffield, Uxbridge, Warrington and Washington.