Mapping giant Ordnance Survey will no longer print its own maps.

The decision which ends a 160-year-old tradition will result in the loss of 38 jobs from its Southampton HQ.

In future OS maps will be printed in Somerset and distributed from Nottingham.

Unions expressed “sadness and anger” at the end of an era and attacked the savings as “tiny”.

OS bosses signed a deal with Frome printers Butler Tanner and Dennis worth up to £10m to print around 2.3 million copies a year of its 620 different maps.

Meanwhile a warehousing and distribution deal was signed with Nottingham-based Promotional Logistics, which is worth £5m. OS, which is poised to move from its current Romsey Road base to new headquarters alongside the M271 at Adanac Park, Nursling, said all workers under threat would have the chance to move with their jobs.

Ben Middleton, negotiator for union Prospect, said: “The proposed savings are tiny in relation to overall annual turnover. These cuts will save around £6m over five years at an organisation with a turnover of more than £110m a year – worth about one per cent.

“Our members fear this is the thin end of the wedge for the dismantling and dispersal of one of the country’s oldest Government departments, whose reliable and iconic products are extremely popular with the public.”

Branch secretary Don Campbell said: “This is a very sad day, marking the end of an era. Our job as a union now is to make sure that those affected end up where they want to be, whether through an acceptable redundancy package, relocation or finding a new job within Ordnance Survey.”

An OS spokesman said: “The decision to outsource both services follows a review on how Ordnance Survey operates as a business. The new contracts will provide Ordnance Survey with a cost-effective print and warehouse service taking advantage of the latest print and fulfilment technologies.

“It will also ensure that the quality and accuracy of the products and the service provided to customers will be maintained.

OS, which employs 1,100, was set up by the Government in 1791 and moved to Southampton in 1850. It has been at its current Maybush site since 1969.