480 Norwich Union jobs in the city are to go, it was revealed today.Norwich Union Life, owned by Aviva, has confirmed plans to cut 1,100 permanent jobs by the end of the year, while a further 590 contract positions would end in the next few months.

Norwich Union workers in Norwich are to be hit by redundancies, it was revealed today.

Norwich Union Life, owned by Aviva, has confirmed plans to cut 1,100 permanent jobs by the end of the year, while a further 590 contract positions would end in the next few months.

Centres in Norwich and York will be worst hit, although jobs will also go elsewhere.

Most of the job cuts are in 'business change' and IT, with the rest spread across other areas of the company.

Mark Hodges, chief executive at Norwich Union Life, said: 'Our strategy over the last three years has seen us transform and simplify our business, leaving us well placed to face the challenges ahead.

'We have made significant progress in improving our operational efficiency and are also nearing completion on a series of major change projects. Unfortunately, this means that a reduction in the number of roles in the business is inevitable.

'Making decisions that affect our people is always difficult and we are fully committed to doing everything we possibly can to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies. Our priority now is to work with everyone affected by today's announcement and to support them however we can.'