A healthcare firm which is moving to a new Oxfordshire base has announced it is cutting more than 70 jobs.

Just two months ago Whatman revealed it was moving from its laboratories in Beaumont Road, Banbury, to new premises in Wildmere Road, boosting the workforce from 40 to 115.

But now the firm, which specialises in making drugs and is a pioneer in the hi-tech business of isolating, storing and purifying DNA used in forensic investigations, says it will make 72 staff redundant.

A spokesman for Whatman, which has its UK headquarters in Kent, could not confirm where the cuts would be made, but said recruitment would continue at the Banbury operation.

He added: "About 30 people have been taken on in Banbury, but job losses can't be ruled out there."

The transfer to the new building is due to be completed early in the new year.

Whether all 75 new jobs will still be created is not clear.

The announcement comes as the company reviews its entire operation in a move ordered by chairman Bob Thian.

Previous chairman Simon May stepped down in the autumn after shareholder pressure, while chief executive Tim Coombs was ousted earlier this month in a boardroom shake-up, when two non-executive directors also stepped down.

The majority of the group's manufacturing is based in the US which is the largest market for its products.