Almost 1,000 jobs could vanish from Croydon town centre after the borough’s biggest private employer admitted it is looking to move elsewhere.

Food giant Nestle has been trying to relocate from its crumbling skyscraper in Park Lane for years without success, after a succession of large-scale redevelopment schemes in the town centre fell through.

Ever-increasing maintenance costs on the iconic St George’s House, which has been the company’s Croydon home since 1965, means it has decided to investigate options outside the borough.

It is believed the company is close to signing a deal relocating its headquarters to East London, although a Nestle spokeswoman said there were currently no concrete plans for a move away.

The news of Nestle’s potential departure was revealed in a question by Croydon Labour leader Tony Newman at the council’s cabinet meeting on Monday night.

Council leader Mike Fisher said: “There’s no secret at all that Nestle have been seeking to secure their future in a new building either in Croydon or elsewhere.

“It’s a long process.

“As far as I’m aware that consultation goes on - I’m not aware of any decision to leave Croydon.”

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Newman called the answer “strikingly complacent”.

He said: “On the day we hear the council is looking to cut up to 2,000 jobs in Croydon of people working for the council, there’s now a growing possibility Croydon is going to lose it’s main private sector employer in Nestle, and that is totally devastating news for the town.

“The message the council sent out when they made 60 members of the Croydon Economic Development Company redundant, and not taking it back in house, is that their commitment to regeneration now is very poor.

“This is a potentially massive jobs crisis for the town and I’m calling on Nestle to reconsider if they have any plans to leave, and on councillor Fisher to up his game.”

A Nestle spokeswoman said: “The council to date has not been able to identify potential alternative locations that are cost-effective.

“Therefore, whilst we continue to work with the council on the redevelopment of the mid-town area, we have now after many years been forced into also reviewing other options outside Croydon. "However, at present we have no concrete plans to relocate from Croydon in the short term."

A council spokesman said: "We want the company to have an option to remain in Croydon and continue to work hard at delivering this, as have successive administrations over the past decade.

"We are doing everything we can to identify a building opportunity that will meet both their specification and their deadline of 2014.

"This year we have seen some real inward investment successes. John Lewis opened the capital's first At Home store.

"The Land Registry is relocating its headquarters here, in part as a response to a direct pitch from the council.

"We have also benefited from the recent relocation of Zurich insurance."