An MP has praised pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for committing its future to its Macclesfield plant – after slashing hundreds of jobs a few miles away.

But David Rutley warned the move would create uncertainty for many families in the borough who have relatives working at Alderley Park where 550 jobs are to go.

AstraZeneca announced on Monday it was closing its research and development centre near Alderley Edge with just 700 of the 2,900 staff at the site to remain after 2016.

A total of 1,600 scientists and research staff will be asked to re-locate over the three-year period, the majority to a new £330m research base it is to build in Cambridge.

And up to 700 staff employed at Alderley Park are at risk of redundancy with at least 550 roles expected to go, union leaders said. However, none of the 1,800 staff working at the company’s base on the Hurdsfield industrial estate are to be affected, bosses confirmed.

The Hurdsfield base is AstraZeneca’s European centre for packaging drugs and also contains its IT department, as well as a number of key pharmaceutical development facilities.

Macclesfield MP David Rutley said he welcomed AstraZeneca’s continued commitment to its site in Macclesfield.

He said: “The manufacturing and packaging site is a vital part of our local economy and it is important for the 1,800 employees and their families that their jobs have been safeguarded for years to come.

“Sadly, this will create uncertainty for employees at Alderley Park, many of whom live in the Macclesfield constituency.

“So, our first thoughts are with them and their families, and as local MPs both George Osborne and I have been in dialogue with AstraZeneca about the support that will be available to provide careers advice and review career options.”

The Macclesfield Chamber of Commerce said the job losses were ‘very bad news’ for the local economy especially at a time it was showing signs of recovery but they vowed to continue to try and attract more jobs to the town.

A statement said: “This area has an exceptionally entrepreneurial culture and recent figures have shown a significant increase in company formations.

“We must continue to make Macclesfield and the surrounding towns an exciting and positive place to do business.”

In an interview with the Express, AstraZenica’s executive vice president for innovative medicines, Mene Pangalos, said he was ‘pleased’ to be able to announce the jobs in Macclesfield had been safeguarded.

He added: “It is a very important part of our operation and we will continue to invest in that site.

“We actually have some research and development roles on that site, a lot of our pharmaceutical development capabilities are on that site, so it is going to be a very important site for us going forward.”

On the Alderley Park closure, he said: “When you look at where the most cutting edge innovation is coming from in the UK, Cambridge really is head and shoulders above other parts of the UK.

“But that isn’t a reflection of the quality of our science here. Our history here is something we are incredibly proud of. I live here, my kids go to school here, I love living in this area.

“So it is incredibly challenging to be telling our staff we moving from this area.

“But we will still be a significant employer in the north west. We will still have nearly 3,000 employed here. We’re not rushing to close things down.”

Union chiefs have branded the firm’s decision ‘disastrous’ and said it will spark a ‘skills drain’ from the region.

Linda McCulloch, Unite union national officer, said staff would be shell-shocked by this announcement. She added: “Skilled scientific jobs are in short supply and there are many families based around Alderley Park with deep roots in the community.

“It is going to be a real struggle to relocate families hundreds of miles away to Cambridge.”