ELI Lilly have announced that they will be closing their Erl Wood research centre, resulting in potentially 80 redundancies.

Based in Surrey, the site was home to neuroscience research for the company.

However, it will close by the end of 2020, affecting 270 employees, with 80 potential redundancies.

The company says that two-thirds of staff will move to "a new location within the local area", whilst neuroscience research will move to the USA.

The change comes as part of a global review of research operations.

Tim Garnett, Chief Medical Officer at Eli Lilly, said: "I know that this proposal will be difficult news for many working for Lilly in the UK.

"Our dedicated teams have delivered world-class research from Erl Wood for the last 50 years. They are some of the most talented people in the industry and this proposal is not a reflection on their hard work or skill."

However, the company has confirmed that there will be no changes linked to the commercial infrastructure, which is based in Basingstoke and doesn't form part of the review.

It also says: "Today's proposals is not a result of the ongoing uncertainty relating to Britain's exit from the European Union."

Tim continued: "Like many pharmaceutical companies, we are evolving the way we work in order to discover the medicines of tomorrow. Whilst this brings real opportunities, it obviously means we are forced to make very difficult choices.

"Our focus now is on supporting our people and treating them with the dignity and respect they deserve. We will now enter a formal consultation with all the employees potentially affected."