CIDER-makers Bulmers welcomed the announcement today that the Scottish and Newcastle take-over bid had been accepted by a majority of shareholders.

By the 3pm deadline yesterday more than 70 per cent of the ordinary share capital of the Hereford-based business was owned by Scottish and Newcastle, the Edinburgh brewing giant.

Bulmers has said nothing more can be decided about jobs until the take-over has been approved by European competition authorities in July.

Until then, the situation remained as before, with Scottish and Newcastle committed to continuing cider production at the Hereford headquarters, which employs about 700 people.

Both Bulmers and S&N accepted there would be some overlap with "head office" functions, such as accounts and marketing, perhaps leading to some job losses.

"We haven't seen any Scottish & Newcastle people here yet because obviously they can't come until the deal has been approved, which will probably happen sometime in July," said Julian Todd, corporate affairs spokesman for Bulmers.

"So exactly how they plan to manage and operate things won't be known until then. They certainty will remain until they make their plans clear."