Bosses at a pharmaceutical giant have confirmed that up to 550 jobs are to be axed.

Pharmaceutical company Novartis has told workers at its Horsham site of manufacturing jobs will go under proposals to leave the county.

The company is the largest employer in Horsham.

Workers at the company have claimed that their redundancy package is half that offered to workers at the Novartis site in Speke, Liverpool. They say that this is because the workforce at Speke is unionised and that Horsham workers have been unfairly penalised.

The company, which has a total workforce of 950 at the site, said at least 330 jobs are currently secure because it will keep its respiratory research department.

Yesterday, The Argus announced that more than 170 jobs are to be created at Ceres Power in Horsham.

For full story see tomorrow's Argus.