SERVICES company Carillion has warned 4,500 staff that their jobs are at risk following plans to halve subsidies on solar power.

The company wrote to employees at its energy services division, made up from the Eaga business it bought for £306m earlier this year, saying it has launched a 90-day consultation on how to reshape the business.

The company believes the Government’s plans to cut feed-in tariffs on installing solar panels on homes were greater and sooner than expected, leading to a “significant” reduction in its market.

It is understood that about a third of the jobs, or about 1,500 staff, could be axed, although no decision has yet been made.

Carillion bought Newcastle-based Eaga, one of the UK’s biggest suppliers of heating and renewable energy services, in February.

But the Government has since announced that feed-in tariffs, which supplement the amount of money received by supplying solar energy to the National Grid, could be cut as soon as December 12.

The Government has said the move is to make small-scale renewable subsidies sustainable as the cost of solar panels falls, but it has attracted protests that the policy will wreck a growing industry.

Other industry players have also railed against the Government's plans. Solar panel contractor Breyer Group is reported to have said the policy could cost it 15% of its turnover, while social housing and home care group Mears has withdrawn from the solar panel business altogether.

The Local Government Association has warned that the plans, which are being consulted on, would hit councils that had attempted to roll out the technology to poorer households.