BT is to axe around 13,000 jobs over three years as the telecoms giant aims to cut costs.

The company said the job losses would mainly affect back office and middle management roles.

There are also plans to exit the BT headquarters in central London.

It comes as BT looks to cut costs by around £1.5 billion by the third year of its revamped strategic plan.

It is unclear whether the losses will affect BT's call centres in Jubilee Street, Blackburn, and at the Globe Centre, Accrington.

The telecoms firm added that it would be hiring around 6,000 new employees “to support network deployment and customer service”.

A BT spokesman said: “There are no details at this stage of either the reduction in roles, or the new jobs, we have announced today.

"We have been clear, however, that the changes will represent an investment in the jobs and skills needed to strengthen our networks and customer service.”