WORKERS at Oxfordshire County Council could be told to relocate to Hampshire or lose their jobs.

It is part of a shake-up at the county council which would save around £700,000 a year.

If the plans go ahead, large parts of the county council’s finance and human resources departments will be transferred to a business centre run by Hampshire County Council in Winchester.

Around 140 Oxfordshire staff work in teams that would be incorporated in to the Hampshire Integrated Business Centre and would be offered the chance to transfer to Hampshire County Council employment.

County councillor Rodney Rose, the county council’s deputy leader, said: "There are a number of clear advantages to linking up with Hampshire, not least that such a public to public partnership would lead to more seamless transitions.

"We now know that this proposal stacks up financially and would deliver the savings we must make while continuing to provide quality back-office services for our frontline teams."

In Autumn 2013 the county council’s cabinet gave its approval for large parts of HR and finance to be outsourced to a national provider as part of its attempt to save £64m by 2018 because of government cuts.

The county council's cabinet will decide whether to go ahead with the proposal next Tuesday and if it is approved a full staff consultation will take place in the autumn.