Up TO 300 jobs could be lost at a Sussex-based insurance giant.

Some posts at Royal and SunAlliance, of Horsham, could be contracted out to India in a bid to keep the company competitive.

Unions say 40 jobs have so far been targeted nationwide, several at Horsham.

But they fear this is the tip of the iceberg and up to 1,000 posts could go nationwide with the IT centre at Lennox Wood, Horsham, bearing the brunt of the losses.

Managers are already looking at staff taking voluntary redundancy.

The say the company is taking advantage of lower wage costs in the Far East.

Last night the company refused to say how many jobs will go at Horsham, where 3,000 are employed, but Paul Atkinson, head of corporate affairs insisted that where possible jobs would disappear through natural wastage.

Royal and SunAlliance, which pulled out of Brighton two years ago, is still advertising for some posts at Horsham and insists the town is vital to its global operation.

The two main white collar unions who represent staff at Horsham, MSF and UNIFI, are concerned about job security.

The massive improvement in global communications has made it possible for international companies to locate to other parts of the world where wage costs are lower and where sometimes there is a better educated workforce.

Jez Stewart, of MSF, the union for skilled white collar workers, said: "We believe that 300 jobs could be at risk at Horsham."