INSURANCE company Axa is to cut 700 jobs as part of a restructuring of its general insurance operation in the UK.

But the 240 workers at its call centre operation in Beaumont Street, Darlington, are believed to be safe.

The majority of the jobs will go at a call centre in Colchester, Essex, a claims unit in Cardiff and a further office in Bolton, Lancashire.

French-owned Axa said the cuts at the division, which covers car, household and commercial insurance, followed a strategic review, which will see £100m invested in new IT systems in the next three years. The redundancies are expected to take place over the next 12 months. About 150 staff are expected to be redeployed.

A spokeswoman for Axa said: "We need to enhance the profitability of Axa Insurance. We need to make it a more efficient customer facing operation."

She added: "The Darlington call centre operation will not be affected by this restructuring. There are certainly no plans to close it."

The Axa Insurance business employs 5,000 people and has its headquarters in London.

About 320 jobs will be lost at Colchester when Axa merges its call centre with another facility 20 miles away, at Ipswich in Suffolk.

It is closing the claims unit at Cardiff, where 230 people work, and another 85 jobs will go from the office at Bolton.

Staff, who were briefed about the changes yesterday morning, are to be offered a "comprehensive support package" to help them seek alternative jobs.

The spokeswoman said the restructuring, including the new IT system, was essential to enhance the performance of the business.