AROUND 25 jobs could go at the Coca-Cola plant in Sidcup after the company announced nearly 300 positions in the UK are at risk.

The Cray Road factory has been in business for more than 50 years and currently has 344 employees and seven manufacturing lines.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is planning to end its direct delivery service primarily used by restaurants.

A CCE statement said: "We have now started a full consultation on these proposals with our employee representative bodies and the Unite trade union.

"We expect these proposals could result in a reduction of approximately 25 roles from a total workforce of 344 in our Sidcup facility in Kent.

"We do not make these proposals lightly and we will, of course, be looking to minimise redundancies as far as possible and will offer support to help colleagues through this process."

The soft drinks giant has announced 288 jobs could go from a total work force of 4,400 across sites including Bristol, East Kilbride, Edmonton, Northampton and Wakefield.

Unite national officer for food and drink Jennie Formby said: "This news will be a devastating blow for our members and their families.

"Our immediate priority must be to get full details of the reasoning behind this decision and to examine what alternatives there could be for our members.

"Cola Coca Enterprises is a highly profitable and successful global company and we will be doing everything in our power to protect jobs."

The company sells more than four billion bottles and cans of soft drinks in the UK every year.

The Sidcup plant alone produces 40m cases of drinks every year and fills 5,000 bottles and cans every minute - a rate of more than 80 per second, according to Coca-Cola's website.