Nearly 2,000 Royal Mail management jobs are to go as the company looks to slash costs.

The cuts come to save £330 million over the next two years.

Some of Royal Mail’s 9,700 managers will be hardest hit.

Keith Williams, interim executive chairman at Royal Mail Group, said the firm is taking “immediate action” on costs to offset the Covid-19 impact.

He said: “In recent years, our UK business has not adapted quickly enough to the changes in our marketplace of more parcels and fewer letters.

“Covid-19 has accelerated those trends, presenting additional challenges.

“We are committed to conducting the upcoming consultation process carefully and sensitively.

“We will work closely with our managers and their representatives during this difficult period.”

There is a “phased approach” to the redundancies all planned to happen before March 2021.

In April Royal Mail’s frontline workers braved the pandemic to deliver 36 million more parcels.

But social distancing ate through the benefit at Royal Mail as costs were sent soaring.