Staff at a Colchester law office could lose their jobs as part of a national firm’s attempt to operate from fewer sites.

Parabis Law has announced a consultation into the future of its offices at Colchester Business Park, in The Crescent.

All 18 staff employed in Colchester are at risk of redundancy.

The firm announced its consultation, which also affects a Parabis branch in Bristol, because a series of mergers in recent years has led to a growth in office sites.

Group commercial director Tim Roberts said: “It is not unusual for a business such as ours, which has inherited offices on multiple sites and at several locations as a result of merger, to rationalise property holdings and concentrate teams where there is the highest workload and greatest client demand.

“Naturally, this affects some of our people very directly and their welfare is important to us.

“We are consulting fully and will be discussing options and opportunities.

“Where roles may be lost as part of this process we will help those affected all we can with their next move.”

Parabis, which currently has offices 12 towns and cities in the UK, also wants to reduce the number of offices it has in London.

But Colchester and Bristol are the only locations where jobs are at risk.

The roles affected are a mix of legal and administrative support staff.