HOUSE builder George Wimpey came under fire last night for axing jobs and closing offices despite higher than expected profits.

The group confirmed it is to cut 400 jobs and close nine regional offices as part of a restructuring exercise.

The company will reduce its regions from 29 to 21 following a merger of its Wimpey and McLean Homes operations.

Wimpey, which yesterday announced a 30 per cent rise in pre-tax profits in the year to the end of December to £146m, said the cuts were likely to produce annual savings of £20m.

All the jobs are management and administration roles.

The jobs figure is higher than the 250 estimated by Wimpey when it announced plans for restructuring in December, although it said that cost savings were likely to be higher than the £15m first predicted.

Wimpey said its higher profits had come despite a weakening in the UK housing market over the latter part of last year.

The number of completions fell seven per cent to 10,823, although the average selling price rose 16 per cent to £112,500, and pushed turnover to £1.7bn.

Chief executive Peter Johnson said: "These results provide a solid foundation for our restructuring programme."

He believed cuts in the regions made sense, because many offices were too close to each other.

However, a worker said: "It's come as a shock to all of us. The company is making a good profit, yet it's still closing offices and cutting jobs - no one can understand why.