A MOBILE phone company has confirmed 40 staff will be affected by plans to "outsource" more of its work away from the North-East.

The staff who work for Orange in Yarm Road, Darlington, on its nightshift customer services team, have been offered alternative roles, but some who decline are expected to accept severance packages to leave the firm.

One member of staff said it was a "cost cutting exercise with no thought or consideration to the customers or employees affected" and the work was being moved to Manila, in the Philippines.

Last year Orange – now part of the merged Everything Everywhere phone brand – cut between 100 and 120 jobs in Darlington as part of a nationwide restructuring which saw 1,200 staff axed.

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