Darlington MP Alan Milburn has expressed concern over proposals to close a BT call centre in the town, with the loss of more than 100 jobs.

Last week it was revealed that BT plans to close its Barnard Street exchange in October.

The move has angered the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), which described it as "insane".

Speaking during a recent visit to his constituency, Mr Milburn said he was planning to speak to all parties involved.

"I am very concerned about this and will be getting in touch with the union and the company," he said.

There are 111 workers at the exchange, of which 59 are employed by BT. The rest are provided by employment agencies such as Manpower.

Although BT has a policy of no compulsory redundancies, and has vowed to redeploy the affected workers, the CWU has called a meeting of its members to discuss the situation

The meeting will take place at in the Coachman Hotel, Victoria Road, Darlington, at 11am on Sunday.

In a letter to his members, CWU branch secretary Phil Graham says: "It would be misleading to say we are comfortable with the manner in which the decision has been taken. We were given just three hours notice of the announcement and no access to the actual briefing which you all received.

"This means that rather than being helpfully pro-active, we now find ourselves, somewhat frustratingly, having to react.

"We believe it is contemptuous of the company not have involved us at an earlier stage."

BT says advances in technology, which have speeded up the 192 directory inquiries service, and increased use of free Internet directory inquiry services, were the main reasons behind its decision.

The Darlington exchange is one of four across the country being closed.

It follows the closure of the directory inquiry service in Gateshead, and the proposed closure of the operator assistance section at the Newcastle Central Telephone Exchange building.