MyTravel, the crisis-hit UK tour operator, has said it might have to cut 700 jobs in order to reduce costs.

The Manchester-based company, formerly known as Airtours, said it was consulting with employees about the move and whether savings could be achieved by alternative means.

It said market conditions remained "difficult and uncertain".

MyTravel is best known on the High Street for its Going Places chain of travel agents.

Last year, the company admitted to a black hole in its accounts that resulted in profits being much lower than expected.

MyTravel has 15,000 workers in the UK and a further 12,000 worldwide.

Uncertainty

A MyTravel spokesman said it would be a month before the number of redundancies was known.

He said the job losses would not be "blanket across the group, (they are) in various businesses".

He added that "administration head office-type functions" could be at risk.

The firm's two main administrative centres are its head office in Manchester and its accounting centre in Rochdale.

The spokesman said that the cuts were "not directed at (travel agency) staff but that doesn't mean they won't be affected".

Tough year

Last November, MyTravel secured its financial future for the coming year when it secured a loan agreement with its banks.

The company's future had been in doubt after what its chairman and founder David Crossland described as "the worst year in its history".

Its share price had plunged after MyTravel issued three profit warnings in the space of five months.

It reported a loss of �72.8m for the year to September and also restated its profits for the previous year, lowering them from �81m to �62m.

The travel group has already shed nearly 3,000 jobs from a combination of cost-cutting measures and the downturn in the industry following the 11 September terror attacks.