THE North-East was bracing itself last night after one of the region's largest private employers announced plans to axe up to 2,000 jobs across the UK.

Mobile phone operator Orange said an economy drive to reduce costs by 15 per cent would see between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs cut by September.

The French-owned group employs 5,300 people across the North-East at call centres in Darlington, Peterlee, east Durham, and on North Tyneside. The Darlington centre employs about 2,500 people.

The company has been carrying out call centre trials in India, with about 700 staff taking calls there.

Orange last night could not say where the jobs would be lost, but it is understood that various departments across several sites will be affected, making it unlikely that one site alone will bear the brunt of the cuts.

Last night, the Communication Workers' Union, which represents many Orange workers despite not being officially recognised by the company, attacked the decision.

A spokesperson said: "What we do find strange about these job cuts is Orange's UK revenues were up by five per cent and this is the repayment their workers get.

"There is a lot of concern among workers, because Orange hasn't said where the job cuts are going.

"This has caused much upset among staff because it's all so uncertain.

"Our people are extremely worried about their livelihoods."

The move by Orange comes after its merger with Internet provider Wanadoo.

Both companies are owned by France Telecom. The cuts are part of a drive to reduce costs in the merged business, which employs 12,000 people in the UK, including high street shop staff, call centre workers and engineers.

France Telecom pledged in February to cut 17,000 jobs across its global workforce in the next two years, but told The Northern Echo that Orange employee numbers would not be reduced.

However, Bernard Ghillebaert, chief executive of Orange UK, said yesterday: "We are taking the unique opportunity provided by this integration to further create a leaner organisation that will be better-equipped to compete.

"Specifics will be worked out over the next few months and a final structure in place by September, but the new Orange must be lean and agile and our cost base needs to be lower."

He said staff would be redeployed where possible, and some contracts would not be renewed or replaced, with redundancies as a last resort.

The call centre industry in the North-East employs 50,500 people. There are between 130 and 150 contact centres in the region. Last year, 4.6 per cent of the North-East's working population was in call centres - the highest rate in the UK.