Arla Foods is to cut 250 jobs as part of plans to save £120m across its international operations this year.

Jobs are being lost in Leeds, Viby in Denmark, and Stockholm, and 50 ­vacant positions will not be filled.

An Arla spokeswoman refused to say how many job cuts would be in the UK, but said the redundancies would affect management and admin roles rather than factory staff.

The global recession was having a major negative impact on consumer demand, with shoppers in some markets giving up buying milk altogether, the Danish dairy giant said.

Unfavourable exchange rates for sterling and the Swedish kroner had also hit margins at a time when the company was trying to maintain a good milk price for its farmer owners, said CEO Peder Tuborgh.

Arla has already come under fire from the NFU for its milk price cuts this year.