Energy job cuts

has announced that it is to streamline its energy services operations by cutting 400 jobs.

The company said in a statement that it expects the reductions to come via voluntary redundancies.

E.ON is also looking into the possibility of re-deploying staff within the business.

The energy services arm of E.ON's business, whose services include connecting homes and businesses to power and gas, has been particularly hit by the recent downturn in the UK property market.

The cuts will be made across the energy services business over the next six months.

Dr Paul Golby, chief executive of E.ON UK, said: ‘This was not an easy decision for us to take, but this is the first step as we take a long, hard look at our costs, so keeping them as low as possible to ensure we offer customers the best possible service at the lowest cost.

‘Going forward, we can't rule out further announcements as we look to make our business leaner and more efficient so that we can make energy as affordable as possible for our customers.’