TWO Andover businesses have been bought out with the loss of nearly 40 jobs.

The old Southern Co-operative doorstep delivery business in Charlton Road was recently bought by Dairy Crest. This week the company announced the closure of the depot as from the end of business tomorrow.

Meanwhile, James Meade Limited has been bought by the Cumbrian mail order company WCF Limited.

A spokesman for Dairy Crest said the milk rounds will now operate out of its nearby depots in Winchester and Salisbury. He said: "Some 17 people are affected by the closure of the Andover site - 15 are transferring to either Winchester or Salisbury and two have opted for voluntary redundancy.

"Dairy Crest would like to assure local residents that there will be no disruption to their milk delivery service."

The reason given for the closure is the recent acquisition and the fact that Dairy Crest only had a short-term licence to operate from the Andover site.

At WCF, managing director Ian Stewart said the plan was to move the order reception, warehousing and marketing departments to Cumbria.

But merchandising and retail will stay in Andover and the James Meade brand will be retained.

This means that 20 to 25 jobs will go from Andover - although staff are being invited to apply for relocation to Cumbria - while about 30 jobs will stay in Andover.

The news comes in the wake of nearly 500 Ducal job losses announced in April.