Persil and Surf washing powder are manufactured on Merseyside

The company said 140 people at Port Sunlight, Wirral, and 60 people in Warrington, where Surf and Persil are made, are to leave the business.

The firm also said 114 jobs would be cut at its Burton-on-Trent base, which manufactures Bovril and Marmite.

The job losses are part of a review of operations, which Unilever has said also includes �15m worth of investment.

Last month the business announced it was going to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide over the next four years.

Unilever is to transfer production of Pot Noodle ingredients from its factory in Burton-on-Trent to Colman's of Norwich. It will bring about 15 extra jobs to the city.

In a statement, Joao Ribeiro, Port Sunlight and Warrington works director, and Mark Wearing, factory manager at Burton, said: "Full consultation with employees and union representatives will get under way immediately.

"This change will take 12 months to complete and throughout this period we will be offering an extensive employee support programme to assist all staff."

Dave Lewis, UK Chairman of Unilever, said the announcements marked a "significant step forward in increasing the responsiveness of our manufacturing in the UK".

The company said it would now start a review of three more of its sites in Essex, Leeds and Crumlin, Wales.