AN MP is demanding crisis talks with Orange bosses after it emerged that more than 100 jobs could go at its North-East call centres.

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman accused bosses of misleading her over the extent of job losses at the town’s Orange call centre.

Everything Everywhere – the holding company set up after Orange merged with T-Mobile this year – announced this week that 1,200 jobs would go across the UK.

But it said that 2,746 staff employed at its Darlington operation, 2,313 on North Tyneside and 896 who work near Sunderland would be largely unaffected, other than some in managerial and administrative functions.

The statement angered some staff, who contacted The Northern Echo to say they were losing their jobs.

Last night, the company said that about 100 staff faced redundancy at Darlington, with fewer numbers at the other two centres.

Miss Chapman said: “In the email I received, they indicated the changes would not affect jobs in Darlington. That was selfevidently not the case.

“I am cross about it and want to meet them urgently to find out the situation. Many mortgages depend on those jobs.

“I do not want a big, public row, but it is not a great way to carry on.”

One worker at the Darlington centre said last night: “There were a lot of upset people to say the least. People were crying when they heard. It is a cost-cutting exercise.

“I feel absolutely disgusted – we have just been shafted.”

On Thursday, the company said it was planning to cut about 7.5 per cent of its 16,000-strong UK workforce because of duplication of jobs in Orange and TMobile.

An Everything Everywhere spokeswoman still could not give exact numbers for possible job losses at the three North-East centres.

She confirmed about 100 people were facing an uncertain future at Darlington, while North Tyneside and Doxford Park were likely to have fewer cuts because they have smaller back office staffs.

However she said no decisions would be made until the end of a 90-day consultation with staff.

Everything Everywhere chief executive Tom Alexander said: “It is regrettable that some roles will need to be removed from our combined business.

“We will, of course, be doing everything we possibly can to mitigate the personal impact on our people and support them through this process.”