VIRGIN Mobile was at the centre of a takeover deal by cable giant NTL on Tuesday, which could see employees net a windfall of up to £1,500.

But bosses at the Trowbridge-based company could not say whether jobs would be lost in the town. NTL will pay around £1bn for Virgin Mobile if shareholders accept the bid, creating the first company in the UK to offer "quadplay" cable TV, broadband internet access, fixed line telephone and mobile phone services.

The company, which was set up six years ago and employs more than 1,200 people in the county town, gave employees shares in the company as a gift when they floated on the stock market in 2004. Employees who kept those shares now stand to receive a windfall of up to £1,500.

Steven Day, corporate affairs director at Virgin Mobile, said: "This is a big pat on the back for all the staff in Trowbridge for building something from nothing in just over six years.

"We are now the most successful Virgin business ever, as this is the biggest single transaction in the Virgin Group's history."

Mr Day could not say for sure any jobs would be cut. He said: "NTL have pledged to maintain Virgin Mobile in Trowbridge as a separate, stand-alone business and that the deal will not be about cost-cutting."

Sir Richard Branson will bank £120m in cash and take £570m in shares if the deal goes ahead with NTL. He said: "The good thing as far as staff are concerned is that there is no overlap with NTL and Telewest. "This deal is a growth opportunity we have tremendous staff at Virgin Mobile and we're going to need them."

All NTL services will be re-branded as Virgin, after the company accepted its own name would never be as popular with customers and secured a 30-year licence to use the brand. Virgin Mobile shareholders will be offered three takeover options from NTL, including 372p per share in cash.

NTL revealed its takeover interest in the company in December, but its plans were thwarted when Virgin Mobile's board feared that small shareholders were getting a raw deal. This was overcome when Sir Richard Branson agreed to accept less than other investors for the 71.2 per cent stake held by his Virgin Group.