MORE than 100 jobs are going with the closure in September of the Durham City offices of an NHS organisation that pays chemists for prescriptions.

Workers at the Prescription Pricing Division (PPD) of the NHS Business Services Authority offices, in Green Lane, have been given three months notice of redundancy.

Durham is one of six of the authority's sites that is to close following the introduction of a long-awaited computer system that will do away with the need for so many workers inputting data.

Nationally, the PPD is cutting staffing from 1,500 to 650 and will have only three sites, in Newcastle, Bolton and Wakefield.

One worker said: "We have been waiting for this for three years. There are 138 job losses.

"We had the offer to transfer to Newcastle, but a lot of us live in outlying villages and it is hard enough getting into Durham, never mind Newcastle.

Most people have taken redundancy."

Peter Chapman, regional officer for the union Unison, said: "This has not come as a surprise. It has been expected for a while.

"Initially, we campaigned against the closure and against the introduction of the technology causing it, but it became obvious that there was nothing that could be done to resist it."

A spokesman for PPD said the Durham site would close on September 19.

"The site has employed about 190 part and full-time staff, of which approximately 50 took up the offer of a transfer to the Newcastle site. The remainder have decided to take voluntary redundancy,"

said the spokesman.

"The move is part of a restructure of the prescription pricing operation of the NHS Business Services Authority as a result of new technology which, when fully implemented, will save the NHS about £20m per annum.

"The site is owned by the NHS Business Services and is currently being marketed to the wider NHS and other external interest parties. We appreciate the hard work and dedication of our staff.''