MyTravel, which runs the High Street travel chain Going Places, said the redundancies were the result of its "worst year in history".

The company told BBC News Online that the cuts will include the 700 UK job losses announced in February, a further 800 across its worldwide operations, then 500 redundancies through "natural wastage".

The aftermath of September 11 and now the war with Iraq have all hit the Rochdale-based group as people have shied away from travelling abroad.

Getting worse

MyTravel has had a turbulent few months, with the departure of its founder and chairman David Crossland in February and uncovering last year of a 'black hole' in its balance sheet which meant profits came in much lower than expected.

Travellers are going to fewer places, it seems

The then chief executive Tim Byrne quit in October after two profit warnings and a sharp fall in the company's value.

The travel group said in February that it was consulting staff about possible job losses, but estimated at the time it could be forced to lay off 700 employees.

Last month, it admitted trading conditions had been difficult since November and worsened in recent weeks.

The group blamed "the uncertainty over the conflict in Iraq, together with fears of terrorist attacks within our departure countries".

Sell-offs

MyTravel shares have been knocked by its ongoing struggles and have fallen from 250p per share a year ago to Thursday's closing price of 11p.

It began a strategic review in November as part of plans to persuade its lenders to extend their �250m credit facilities.

MyTravel, which owns the Cresta, Bridge, Manos and Panorama brands, has also considered selling assets.

Chief executive Peter McHugh, who took over from Tim Byrne at the end of 2002, warned at the group's annual meeting in Manchester two weeks ago that rapid expansion had left the group with high costs.

The spokesman said the new strategy would focus on making MyTravel more "demand led" rather than leaving travel agents with thousands of unfilled holidays.

"In the long term, it's about trying to get more people to buy from the brochure."