Bakery staff face redundancy after a bakery chain announced a series of job losses.
Greggs has announced it will be closing its in-store bakeries at shops across the south-east of England, including its branches in Braintree and Witham.
The closures, which will affect former Baker’s Oven stores, will take place over the next 12 to 18 months.
The chain refused to confirm how many jobs would be at risk at the stores in George Yard, Braintree, and Newland Street, Witham.
Across the country, 300 jobs will be lost across 79 stores with in-store bakeries.
Most of Greggs stores in East Anglia are now supplied from a regional bakery in Norwich, which opened in May 2012.
Greggs chief executive Roger Whiteside said: "Whilst we face a number of challenges in the coming year we remain confident that we can make further progress with our strategic plan in 2014.”
The company said where possible it will look to offer existing vacancies to the employees who work in the in-store bakeries, but it said it anticipates many will leave the business.
It is expected the move will cost the bakery £9million in redundancy costs, but will also save £6million a year.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here