VIRGIN Mobile is creating about 200 jobs at a customer call centre in the Tees Valley.

The operation, based at Centre North-East in Middlesbrough, will be managed by Garlands Call Centres, and will have 100 positions in place by the end of this month.

The news was welcomed by Middlesbrough MP Stuart Bell, who said: "It will create a major boost for the town and give encouragement to young people that there are serious job prospects in Middlesbrough."

Staff will handle a range of customer service inquiries from Virgin Mobile's growing customer base of about 2.5 million. The centre staff will work in parallel with a customer service operation in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Virgin Mobile employs about 1,500 staff at three operations, including its Trowbridge headquarters, London and Daventry.

Virgin Mobile's chief executive, Tom Alexander, said: "We are very excited to be opening up a new customer centre in the North-East, and welcoming the new staff on board. However, our headquarters in Trowbridge will remain key to our business and we will continue to expand there too.

"Virgin Mobile prides itself on its customer service and we want to make sure that we keep giving our customers the very highest levels of care and attention."

He said: "We are also about to announce our results for the first quarter of 2003, and I am delighted to say that our record-breaking growth over the period means that our customer service teams in both Trowbridge and Middlesbrough are going to be kept very busy."

Garlands Call Centres, based in Hartlepool, was established in 1997. It has a blue chip client list that includes leading businesses in the telecoms, utilities, multi-media entertainment and financial services industries.