Channel 5′s legal director has been made redundant, with a number of other legal jobs at risk following the purchase of the TV network by Richard Desmond's company Northern & Shell in July.

Legal head Paul Chinnery was laid off along with six other directors in August, and is set to leave the channel at the end of October. As yet, no-one has been appointed to replace him.

In addition to the director redundancies, Channel 5 is rolling out a wider voluntary redundancy scheme, looking to cut 60-80 jobs in total. Once this process is completed a decision will be made as to the shape of the legal department and a new director will be appointed.

There are currently 20 legal staff at the network who have all been given the option of voluntary redundancy alongside the other 260 staff at Channel 5.

Chinnery has been at Channel 5 since it launched in 1997, starting as a programme lawyer and working through to head of legal and regulatory compliance. He was appointed as head of the channel's legal function in 2008 and took up a position on the board in January 2009. He trained at legacy firm McKenna & Co, qualifying in 1993.

Channel 5′s staff will be relocated to the Northern & Shell premises in Lower Thames Street and in the Docklands in the coming months. Desmond is aiming to streamline roles at the channel as part of its integration with its new parent company and is intending to invest around £300m per year for the next five years in the business.