WARRINGTON'S economy will be 'threatened' by the 'reduction' of 3,000 Sellafield Ltd roles in the next five years.

The company – which is responsible for managing the decommissioning process of the Sellafield facility – has launched its social impact strategy (SIS).

An independent report, commissioned by Sellafield, in support of the SIS has also been published.

The document says Sellafield Ltd is planning to transform the organisation and 'over the next 4 to 5 years expects a reduction in 3,000 roles', which will 'have implications for the local economies of Cumbria and Warrington'.

It adds: "Despite this, Sellafield Ltd hopes to play a role in revitalising local economies by working with local stakeholders and its supply chain.

"The loss of jobs at Sellafield Ltd is another threat to the local economies of Cumbria and Warrington.

"In the case of Cumbria, it could exacerbate employment contraction, working age population decline and the challenge of finding employment for those with lower levels of skills.

"Though, Sellafield Ltd believe there is an opportunity to develop a more innovative and sustainable supply chain and in so doing create employment opportunities.

"This will of course take time and Sellafield Ltd are currently in the preparation phase of the transformation."

And it has sparked concerns from Warrington North MP Helen Jones.

She said: "This news is bad for Warrington in the long term as it will mean the loss of skilled jobs to the area.

"The Government have given away the next generation of power stations to China.

"We need to develop the technology for the new generation of nuclear power plants as well as maintaining the capability to run and service such power stations.

"It is important that the UK maintains viability in fuel and energy provision given the dangers we face with climate change and the risk to our energy security of relying on power from abroad."

The Labour politician will be seeking clarification from Sellafield's chief executive Paul Foster on what the firm 'means' by the statements about how its plans will 'obviously have a negative impact on the local economies of Cumbria and Warrington', 'dampen growth' in Warrington and represent 'another threat to the local economies of Cumbria and Warrington'.

Sellafield employs around 11,500 people across Cumbria and Warrington – with around 1,500 of the jobs in Warrington.

A Sellafield Ltd spokesman said: "There are no planned redundancies in either Warrington or Cumbria.

"Over the coming years, around 3,000 roles will change, reflecting Sellafield's move from operations and reprocessing to decommissioning – but the intention is that this will be done without any redundancies.

"The process of decommissioning and cleaning up Sellafield will take over 100 years and Warrington will continue to play an important and valuable part in that work."