Workers at branches of Thomson Holidays across Oxfordshire are waiting to hear whether their jobs will be axed after the chief executive of the firm's parent company announced changes in the pipeline.

Micharl Frenzl, chief executive of German company Tui will on Thursday spell out plans for Thomson's 730 UK travel shops - which include branches in Oxford, Cowley, Witney, Banbury, Bicester and Didcot.

He is expected to brief the parent company's main board about plans to revive the UK's flagging travel business.

City analysts reckon that Europe's largest travel company travel company, which also owns Lunn Poly, has been under pressure from Internet competition and has seen its share price drop from £14.88 in 2005 to a low this year of £9.80.

The travel shops have seen revenues squeezed as travellers abandon package holidays and book online.

Mr Frenzel has already cut 6000 jobs, many in Germany, since 2003 and has warned that more "serious cuts" are on the way.

A spokesman for Thomson Holidays said: "This is speculation. We are not commenting on this at present."

The Financial Times reported over the weekend that "the bulk of cuts were expected at Thomson Holidays in the UK, where the travel market remains in poor shape."

Tui's shipping arm, which in 2005 bought Canadian shipping line CP Ships, will this year be forced into the red by lower margins and higher costs.