Some 250 staff at four tax offices in Wales have been offered severance packages as part of HMRC's 'voluntary exit scheme' which is set to target 2,000 staff across the UK.

HMRC said 259 staff in Wales could apply for redundancy, with 86 positions to be cut in the Carmarthen office, 81 in Colwyn Bay, 84 in Merthyr Tydfil and eight in Pembroke Dock. The job cuts cover tax inspectors to port revenue officers.

A HMRC spokesperson said: 'An increasing number of customers are choosing to do business with us through our online services, which has reduced our need for physical sites. This change has seen the nature of our work shift away from mass-processing work of the past to more specialist, but less labour-intensive, roles required in effective policing of the tax system.'

The Public and Commercial Services union said the redundancy moves might be a precursor to the closure of some HMRC Welsh offices in 2015.