Indebted travel company Thomas Cook is to slash 2,500 jobs and close 195 of its High Street stores in a bid to ensure its admin costs are 'as low as possible'.

Over 15% of the group's staff will be cut, and the total number of travel agencies will be reduced to 874.

Thomas Cook's Europe and UK Chief Executive, Peter Frankhauser, said: "It is never easy to make decisions that impact directly on our people, but we also owe it to our customers to shape the business effectively and ensure that, when they book their holiday with us, our administrative costs are as low as possible."

1,600 of the job cuts will be made on the High Street, with the from its offices, one of which will be closed.

One month ago the group delivered a vast improvement in its first quarter, with the operating loss for the period reduced to £69.8m from £91.1m the same period the previous year. The picture was far from glowing, however, with total revenues down 7.3% to £1.72bn.

Following news of the job cuts, the share price fell 3.2% to 83.25p.

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