Lloyds TSB announced yesterday the closure of a call centre with the loss of almost 1,000 jobs as it prepares to transfer some services to India.

The customer contact centre in Newcastle will be shut by the end of next year in a gradual move which will see other UK call centres, as well as the bank's operation in India, take over the work.

A total of 986 jobs will be lost in Newcastle but no other call centres will be affected.

A spokeswoman said: "This has been a very difficult decision and has only been made after considerable thought and discussion.

"We operate in a fiercely competitive environment and it is vital we find ways of running our business effectively and competitively."

She said the bank hoped to manage the job losses through natural staff turnover and by redeploying staff elsewhere.

Last month Lloyds TSB announced it intended to have 1,500 call centre jobs located in India by the end of next year and the spokeswoman said the 986 losses in Newcastle were part of that decision.

Some of the jobs were part-time roles and it was estimated the actual loss was equivalent to 750 full-time positions.

Workers in India can be paid less than one-sixth of what British call centre staff receive, the Lloyds TSB Group Union said today.

It feared "many thousands" more jobs from within the group could be lost to Asia.

The union has planned a series of protests against the job losses and hopes to raise 500,000 signatures by petitioning branches.

Assistant general secretary Steve Tatlow said: "It is unacceptable that Lloyds TSB should be closing its Newcastle call centre with such serious consequences for its staff and the North-East.

"Its actions put pressure on other companies to follow suit.

"The bank's excuses for closing the call centre are weak on all grounds other than to cut costs at the expense of UK staff.

"It argues that staff turnover has been a problem but has wholly failed to address this through paying competitive salaries and making Lloyds TSB a better place to work.

"We will be seeking to fully engage the North-East community, MPs, councils, business organisations and customers in our campaign to drop its plans to close the Newcastle call centre.

"We will also be stepping up our petition of customers outside Lloyds TSB branches to show the bank that customers find its plans wholly unacceptable."

Friday October 31, 2003