UNION activists paraded an inflatable pink elephant outside the annual meeting of telecoms company BT yesterday, to protest at the number of call centre jobs going overseas.

BT, which has call centres in Middlesbrough and Newcastle, announced earlier this year it was to switch 2,200 customer service jobs to India in a bid to cut costs.

Unions fear that banking, insurance and other sectors will take similar steps, which could result in more than 200,000 jobs being lost in the UK.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) protested outside the meeting at the Barbican Centre, in London.

Union general secretary Billy Hayes said: "We have 21st Century technology being used to transfer work outside the UK, which is totally unacceptable.

"We are looking to defend our members' jobs in this country."

Earlier this year, the CWU predicted more than 5,000 jobs in the North-East and North Yorkshire would be threatened by the move.

BT yesterday hit back, saying that call centres set up in India a few months ago were already providing an improved service.

But BT Retail chief executive Pierre Danon, speaking after the meeting, said: ''We are delighted with the performance of the two Indian centres and our early experiences have been very positive in achieving very favourable customer satisfaction levels."

He said that BT was pressing ahead with plans to develop 31 call centres in the UK, staffed by about 17,000 workers. He said those centres would cost £105m - far more than the £3m being invested in India.