INSURER Royal & Sun Alliance last night said it could not rule out job losses at its North-East base as it looks to cut 700 positions across the group.

The group announced yesterday that the cuts would be made as it looks to make annual savings of £70m, with 500 jobs expected to be lost within its UK operation.

About 620 people work at its call centre in Sunderland - which operates under the group's More Than brand - and while the company said yesterday it could not confirm which of its 20 bases nationwide would be affected, it said its North-East base might be.

A spokesman told The Northern Echo: "We anticipate that 500 jobs will be lost out of the 9,000 people we employ in the UK.

"Until we have consulted with unions, we cannot say where will be affected. However, we can say there will be no branch closures, and we will not be targeting any areas of the UK in particular in making our decision."

The latest cost savings are in addition to the £130m of cuts announced by the company last year. That plan involved cutting 1,550 jobs by next June, including about 1,000 positions in the UK.

A previous three-year restructuring programme saved the firm £270m and included the loss of about 1,100 jobs in the UK when it moved call centre work to India in 2004.

Releasing its half-year results yesterday, the group said underwriting profits in the UK fell to £51m, from £95m last year, although it stressed the division had maintained strong profitability during the period.

For the whole group, underwriting profits were down 16 per cent to £144m, with bottom-line profits broadly flat at £237m in the six months to June 30.