MORE than 100 jobs are likely to be lost as a result of the £1.19bn takeover of North-East pubs company Pubmaster.

Pubmaster, based in Hartlepool, was taken over by rival Punch Taverns in December.

The deal made Punch the biggest pubs company in the country, but last night the group said it had launched a 90-day consultation with 131 staff.

The majority are based at Pubmaster's Teesside head office, although some jobs are also likely to go at four satellite offices in Bromsgrove, Ipswich, Sheffield and Warrington.

The group is closing the offices and merging their operations at its head office at Burton on Trent, Staffordshire.

A Punch spokeswoman said the group would try to move staff to the Burton head office wherever possible.

But she said anyone unable to move would be offered redundancy.

A statement from the group said: "Existing Pubmaster redundancy terms will be honoured, and Punch will provide full support to those staff affected throughout the process."

Punch completed the acquisition of Pubmaster in December, increasing the size of its pub estate by about two-thirds to 7,386.

Last month, it announced it was selling 252 of Pubmaster's outlets to ease regulatory concerns about the takeover.

Yesterday, Punch said the integration of the two businesses was under way and progressing well.

The group said it expected full integration to take six months, resulting in opportunities to develop the enlarged business and to make savings.