MOBILE phone giant Orange has refused to rule out further job losses after it sacked 45 staff over claims they circulated obscene material on company computer systems.

Orange also defended its stance over the sackings, despite accusations that it acted in a heavy-handed manner.

Call centre staff at Darlington, Peterlee and Hertford were disciplined after an investigation into the e-mailing of offensive pictures.

Sarah Taylor, Orange media relations executive, would not confirm or deny that more jobs would go and said: "We are confident that we have handled this properly.

"These people have all had a chance to speak for themselves and if they could show that they were not involved they were not dismissed."

The Northern Echo understands that hundreds of call centre staff were interviewed in the investigation and many who were not directly involved support their colleagues.

One woman said: "The company is in uproar and everybody is completely rebelling against the decision."

Mick Adams, divisional officer with the ISTC union, which represents many Orange staff, said: "The management have taken a hammer to smash an egg.

"Many people were unaware that they had committed an offence and we will be attempting to represent them at the appeals stage."