Coca Cola makes bottling job cuts

About 400 employees will remain at the Coca Cola bottling plant

A total of 58 jobs are to go at the Coca Cola bottling plant in East Kilbride, it has emerged.

The company said the cuts were the result of restructuring throughout its UK operations.

It blamed the move on the highly competitive drinks market but stressed that the remaining 400 jobs were safe.

In a statement, Coca Cola also reassured workers at a factory in Aberdeen that they would not be affected by the cuts.

Kevin Warren, managing director of Coca-Cola Enterprises Great Britain, said the company had looked to redeploy staff wherever possible.

'Long-term future'

He said: "In order to remain competitive we believe we need to reorganise our business to allow us to capture the opportunity created by long term consumer trends.

"We have no choice but to continue to be as efficient and effective as possible throughout our organisation. And, we will continue to invest for the long-term future and success of the business not only in East Kilbride but throughout Great Britain."

He added: "Proposed reductions have been kept to an absolute minimum through seeking to redeploy people wherever possible and we will follow a fair and transparent consultation process with employee representatives.

"We are committed to assisting our employees through this difficult process and recognise their commitment and service."

Coca Cola has had operations in East Kilbride since 1964.