Kraft Foods, the US's biggest food maker, is to axe 6,000 jobs

The firm, which employs 49,000 staff outside North America, has plants in Banbury in Oxford, Bridgend in south Wales and York.

Its headquarters is in Cheltenham.

Kraft Foods UK said a decision on whether there would be job cuts in Britain would be taken after a "more detailed examination of the situation".

Disappointing sales

A spokesman said: "We cannot rule it out, but we cannot rule it in."

The firm also plans to close 20 plants worldwide, as part of a restructuring programme.

Kraft Foods, which makes a wide range of products from biscuits to cheese spread, said 1,300 salaried posts in North America will go first.

The remaining cuts will be spread over three years.

The job losses represent 6% of Kraft's global workforce.

The move follows more than a year of disappointing sales.

Kraft's fourth-quarter earnings figures showed its net income had dropped by 7% from a year earlier.