Ford will cut 1,300 jobs in the UK over the next three years as it shifts production towards electric vehicles.

In total, the car maker will reduce its headcount by 3,800 across Europe, including 2,300 jobs in Germany, and intends to achieve the reductions through voluntary redundancies.

The global carmaker said 2,800 engineering roles will be axed by 2025, and around 1,000 jobs in its administrative, marketing, sales and distribution teams across Europe are set to go.

The job losses will create a "leaner, more competitive cost structure" for the business and help with the transition toward a smaller, more focused and increasingly electric product portfolio, the company said.

Head of Ford Germany Martin Sander, who is also general manager of its electric-vehicle business in Europe, said: "These are difficult decisions, not taken lightly. We recognise the uncertainty it creates for our team, and I assure them we will be offering them our full support in the months ahead."

Ford is shifting its model line-up to battery-only in Europe by 2035 and has said the lower complexity of electric cars meant it could cut staff from its product development teams.

On the shift to electric vehicles, he added: "There is significantly less work to be done on drivetrains moving out of combustion engines.

"We are moving into a world with less global platforms where less engineering work is necessary. This is why we have to make the adjustments."

On a press call, Mr Sander said that the American carmaker will retain around 3,400 engineers across the continent.

They will build on core technology provided by their US counterparts and adapt it to European customers.