SCORES of North-East call centre workers are facing an uncertain future after holiday firm TUI Travel announced plans to axe two offices in the region.

The company, which owns Thomson Holidays, First Choice Holidays and Late- Rooms.com, plans to close its centres in Peterlee, County Durham, and Newcastle, which employ 90 workers.

The number of call centre jobs lost in the region this year already tops 2,000.

TUI said it wanted to consolidate its operations in the North-East at its Stockton centre, which at present employs 100 people. It has started a 90-day consultation with staff at the two threatened centres, some of whom may be offered the opportunity to relocate.

A spokeswoman said: “The company has given staff details of the proposed plans as well as details of the relocation opportunities available.

“There will be opportunities for staff to move to Stockton.

However, at this time we cannot predict what proportion that might be. We expect a number of them to take up new roles in Stockton and will be offering the necessary support for those affected by the consultation and relocation process.”

The two centres are responsible for taking holiday bookings for UK customers.

“We do realise that announcements of this nature can be worrying, and to this end we will be working very closely with the staff affected over the coming weeks to understand what this means for them, and to ensure any changes are handled sensitively and fairly,” the spokeswoman added.

The group, which has its UK base in Crawley, near Gatwick Airport, employs about 50,000 people and operates 146 aircraft.

In the financial year ended September 30, 2009, TUI Travel had revenues of £13.9bn and an underlying profit before tax of £366m. But it was forced to cancel 175,000 holidays and repatriate 180,000 customers in April as a result of Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud, costing about £90m.

TUI Travel was formed in 2007 after a merger between TUI Tourism and First Choice Holidays to combat declining package tour business due to competition from low-cost airlines.

It has been a difficult year for call centre workers in the region with 1,158 employees at Garlands centres in Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and South Shields losing their jobs in May after the firm went into administration.

Shop Direct closed its call centre in Hendon, Sunderland, in April costing 900 workers their jobs.