Studios in Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Slough will close, with some positions moving to the current UK Adworks headquarters in Scarborough.

According to the Yellow Pages publisher, the move will bring its UK operation in line with sister organisations in the US, Latin America and Spain, which use a global network to produce their work. Advertising, design and layout work are all expected to be moved.

A spokesman for Yell said that a 90-day consultation would begin "in the next few days".

Unite has said it is devastated over the decision to move the work outside of the UK.

Assistant general secretary Tony Burke said: "This is devastating news for our members and their families. Yell Adworks say that the economic downturn has had a significant impact on the sales of advertisements in their directories business.

"We will be meeting Chapel Reps from the studios as soon as is possible to consider the situation and how we intend to respond. This is another body blow for the UK print industry and we will do all we can to help and assist our members at this difficult time."

Yell Adworks was formerly Pindar Set, before Yell Group took ownership of the business from Pindar in 2008. It began operating in 1979 and has been a Yell Group partner since its inception.

In May last year, Yell Group reported a 11% drop in print revenue, although it still recorded a turnover of £504.4m on print.