A West Oxfordshire liquid gas business, employing about 50 workers, is to be sold off by Centrica.

The commercial centre of British Gas LPG at Witney has been sold to Irish multi-national DCC for £41.1m, along with the company's operations centre in North Wales and 23 depots nationwide, employing about 450 people.

The investor relationships manager at DCC, Conor Costigan, said: "It's too early to say what effect the acquisition may have on jobs.

"We plan to run the business as normal over the busy winter period and then review it later.

"But nothing should be read into this. It's normal procedure after an acquisition."

The assets being transferred to DCC, which has its UK headquarters in Leicester, consist largely of bulk tanks at customers' premises, cylinders and tanker lorries.

DCC is already one of the leading companies in the LPG market in Britain and Ireland, operating under the Flogas and Alta Gas brands.

The acquisition of British Gas LPG will double DCC's share of the British market to 21 per cent, making it the second biggest LPG company in Britain.

Last year, British Gas LPG generated operating profits of £2.3m on a turnover of £54.1m.

The sale of the business comes after a strategic decision by Centrica to focus on direct customer relationships in its core businesses.