LUXURY clothing brand Burberry said today that it was cutting up to 300 UK jobs and closing one of its factories.

Burberry said the plant in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, which sews basic outerwear for the label, is to shut with the loss of 170 jobs.

Further UK staff whose work relates to the Rotherham factory could also lose their jobs.

The cuts could mean the loss of up to 290 UK workers.

Burberry, which employs 2,000 staff in the UK, said production would be consolidated at its other Yorkshire factory in Castleford.

Burberry said the measures were part of a global cost-cutting campaign which will see a total loss of around 540 jobs in the UK and Spain.

It said the move would save between £30 million and £35 million.

In 2006 Burberry announced the closure of its factory in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, which employed 300 people.

The move prompted a celebrity-backed union campaign but the closure went ahead.

The company, which employs 6,000 staff globally, said it had no plans to leave the UK.

Burberry said the job cuts were linked to "evolving its supply chain" and were not prompted by the global economic downturn.

However, Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts said: "This will position us to trade through the current difficult environment."