JOBS will be shed at a company that supports one of the region’s biggest lifesaving charities - due to the current crisis in Ukraine.

Workers at the Great North Air Ambulance Service Trading Company have been told their jobs are at risk because income from donated clothing exports to Eastern Europe have suffered since the conflict began last April.

Bosses confirmed that around 50 staff at its bases at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, and Penrith, in Cumbria, have been invited to apply for voluntary redundancy as it looks to axe up to seven jobs.

The business was set up in 2001 to raise funds for the charity which has three lifesaving helicopters serving the North-East, North Yorkshire and Cumbria.

A key part of the business is its door-to-door clothing collection service which is donated hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of clothing every year for sale and export to Europe.

But bosses say that volatile trading resulting from the unrest in eastern Ukraine, which has claimed the lives of around 5,800 people, has hit export income and savings must be made.

A spokesman said: "Ongoing political instability in Ukraine has led to volatile trading conditions across Eastern Europe, which is where the vast majority of our exports are sold.

"We need to take action to protect the business in these lean times with a view to resuming growth once conditions improve.”

Staff facing redundancy told The Northern Echo they were devastated.

One, who asked not to be named, said: “I have been proud to work for a company that supports such an important and well thought of charity and keep air ambulances up in the air.

“But over the last year we’ve seen conditions change, we used to be able to take vehicles home which helped raise awareness of the charity, now they are locked up.

“We’ve seen wages drop about £160 a month, with bonuses removed, and now they want to lay some of us off.

“It is terrible to now be facing the loss of our jobs and to blame that on the problems in Ukraine is a disgrace and an excuse for bad management.”

The Great North Air Ambulance spokesman said the redundancies only affected the organisation's trading company, which is run separately from the charity.

He added: "The charity's aircraft, crew and operational bases are unaffected by this development and continue to serve the region 365 days a year."