THE Shell oil company was yesterday accused of leaving its workers wide open to a disaster of Piper Alpha proportions after cutting 350 jobs.

Question marks were raised over safety by Roger Lyons, joint general secretary of the Amicus union, who said slashing the workforce was unacceptable.

Mr Lyons said: "This is an act of crass stupidity - a Piper Alpha in the making. It will jeopardise safety and may jeopardise Britain's supply of oil at a time of crisis."

Mention of the oil disaster will trigger unhappy memories of the horrific explosion in 1988 which claimed 167 lives.

Piper Alpha was the worst accident the offshore oil industry has known. The rig, about 100 miles south-east of the Orkneys, had passed a safety inspection only eight days before the tragedy, believed to have been triggered by a leak from gas compressors, or from the oil and gas separation unit.

Shell yesterday announced staff and contractor jobs would be lost through natural wastage and voluntary retirement but it acknowledged that some redundancies would take place.

It said the cuts were needed for the multinational to remain "internationally competitive".

Workers were told of the job cuts at meetings in Newcastle, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

The job losses - in the company's operations in the UK Central Shelf oil fields - were part of an offshore review aimed at boosting production and raising efficiency. Marke Carne, asset director at Shell Expro, said: "By making these changes we will be able to prolong the life of our platforms and the jobs that are directly and indirectly dependent upon them."

Shell UK, which employs about 1,500 people in the North Sea, said cuts in maintenance workers would be minimal.

Safety fears were played down by energy minister Brian Wilson.

He said: "Restructuring by long-established North Sea companies is inevitable as some fields reach maturity. This makes it all the more important to get new players investing in the North Sea and we are having considerable success with this.

"I hope that most of those who are affected by this announcement will quickly find employment with other operators. There is absolutely no question of health and safety standards being compromised in any way."