The oil crisis will have cost 120,000 jobs in the UK by the end of the year, analysts claim.

About 40,000 jobs are expected to go across the sector and industries which depend on it in 2016, Oil and Gas UK says.

Around 450,000 people reportedly owed their living to the industry in 2014 and 370,000 in 2015.

Oil and Gas UK expects that number to have fallen to 330,000 by the end of the year.

Companies including Shell, BP, Talisman, Wood Group and Schlumberger have made significant cutbacks since the value of a barrel of oil plunged from a high of $110 in June 2014 to under $30.

The price has since climbed to around $50 but the sector continues to suffer. BP alone shed 600 jobs earlier this year and on Thursday announced it had scrapped plans for a £500m gas plant in Shetland.

Deirdre Michie, chief executive of Oil & Gas UK, said: "We cannot underestimate the impact the global downturn in the industry is having on the UK economy, nor the personal toll for those who have lost their jobs, and the effect on their families and colleagues.

"We recognise this and are doing everything we can to support these people, working with the UK and Scottish Governments through their task forces to find suitable alternative employment, as well as with the unions as we go through these difficult times.

"The industry has been spending more than it is earning since the oil price slump towards the end of 2014. This is not sustainable and companies have been faced with some very difficult decisions.

"To survive, the industry has had no choice but to improve its performance. It is looking to find efficiencies to restore competitiveness, to attract investment and stimulate activity in the North Sea.

"With up to 20 billion barrels of oil and gas still to recover, this region is still very much open for business."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "While oil prices have been recovering from their previous low levels and there is some improvement in investor sentiment, this remains a challenging time for the industry and the workforce, as these latest figures show.

"We are engaging closely with the industry, trade unions and regulator to overcome the current challenges to ensure a long term future for the sector."

Scottish Labour's economy spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: "The SNP ignored the oil jobs crisis for months because it was politically embarrassing for them. We need to see much more regular reporting of the impact of the changing oil price on jobs and the economy."