Dozens of Sussex workers at global finance giant American Express are facing the axe, it emerged today.

Managers are locked in a consultation process to decide how many staff will go. Some estimates put the figure at 300.

The job cuts are part of a global cost-cutting drive.

American Express, which employs 3,000 people in the Brighton area, announced a few weeks ago in its last earnings release that it was to make 6,100 redundancies worldwide.

A company spokeswoman said she could not confirm how many staff in Brighton could lose their jobs but said line managers were involved in reducing the number of employees.

She said: "It will not be the case that huge numbers from Brighton will lose their jobs.

"It is difficult to talk about specific figures. At the moment it is a process the line managers are going through."

Staff made redundant will first undergo a redeployment exercise to see if they can work in other areas of the company during a consultation process which will last up to three months.

Most will be told to leave the company in January in the first wave of redundancies.

The telecoms and technology sectors have suffered badly after a worldwide economic slowdown and many jobs have already been lost in Sussex.

Employers including Ericsson and Hosiden Besson have announced redundancies.

American Express announced in July that it would make between 4,000 and 5,000 workers redundant worldwide in response to the economic downturn. This figure was later raised to 6,100.