Up to 150 jobs are to be axed following the multi-million-pound buy-out of a building company which changed the face of Sussex.

The Eastbourne-based Llewellyn Group was bought by Exeter-based Rok Property Solutions in a £16.3 million deal last month.

Bosses today announced they would be able to save £3 million a year by "selective job cuts in non-core areas".

Consultation with workers will start immediately and the jobs will be axed in the next three weeks.

Before the buy-out, Llewellyn's head office was in South Street, Eastbourne, with depots in Portslade, Brighton, and Hastings, plus operations across the South-East.

The firm, led by group joint managing directors Judy Llewellyn-Burke and Tim Llewellyn, has a high number of long-serving employees. Around 130 workers have served more than 25 years.

Garvis Snook, chief executive of Exeter-based Rok, said: "Llewellyn is an excellent company with a fine reputation.

"We believe a dramatic change in culture and approach is required to deliver long-term benefits to all stakeholders, customers, employees, suppliers and shareholders.

"We have transformed the working lives of employees within Rok over the last two years and are confident these actions are necessary to deliver greater prospects for all those remaining with Llewellyn and enable them to realise their full potential.

"Llewellyn has a good order book. Our task now is to build on its strong client relationships."

The firm was founded in Eastbourne more than 100 years ago by Walter Llewellyn. During the Second World War its work was in huge demand as it helped repair bombed buildings such as the Cavendish Hotel, Barclays Bank and the library in Eastbourne.

Throughout the Sixties, Llewellyn built flats across the resort, including the South Cliff Tower.

In 1963, the company completed building work on one of Eastbourne's prime venues, the Congress Theatre.

It used intricate skills to restore the five-star Grand Hotel in Brighton following the IRA bombing in 1984 and built the Asda superstore at Hollingbury in 1987.

Llewellyn built the Causeway School in Larkspur Drive, Eastbourne, and in 1999, completed a £21 million contract to refurbish Butlins in Bognor.

The buy-out came as Rok reported a 47 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £1.8 million.

Neal Hunt, 44, has been appointed managing director of Llewellyn, which employs up to 450 in Sussex, of which a third are expected to lose their jobs.

Mr Snook said job losses would mainly be in administration roles.

Staff who sought voluntary redundancy would receive an enhanced package but he was keen to offer relocations to other parts of the company first.

More than half the jobs to be axed would probably be in the Eastbourne area.