THOUSANDS of call centre workers last night voiced concerns that new shift patterns introduced across the region were the beginning of plans to move their jobs to India.

Staff at Orange in Darlington, Peterlee, County Durham, and North Tyneside have been told their shifts are being altered to cope with variations in demand.

In March, the mobile phone group announced it was outsourcing some work to a company that operates call centres in India. Employees are concerned that altered shift systems will result in reduced working hours and eventual job losses.

Orange said yesterday that all 5,500 jobs in the region were safe.

On the same day, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) accused Siemens Business Services of breaking promises that it would not sack any staff as it moved work to India.

The company said 250 affected workers - 50 of whom are based in Durham City - would be redeployed.

But PCS has learned that 50 temporary workers in Durham will lose their jobs, despite previous assurances from Siemens.

The company said these were not job losses as a result of outsourcing work but as the result of seasonal unemployment.

Last week, Lloyds TSB's plans to transfer work to India were challenged by a customer who claimed they infringed Data Protection Act's legal requirements.

The customer is receiving the support of solicitors Bindmans, acting on behalf of Lloyds TSB Group Union (LTU), which represents more than 45,000 of the bank's staff.

The increasing number of reports of work moving to India has left staff in a range of customer service roles concerned about their long-term job security.

One worried Orange worker, who asked not to be identified, said: "A lot of the staff have been coming out in tears for weeks. It is in turmoil, there is no doubt about it."

But Orange moved to reassure its staff that their jobs were not about to exported to India.

A spokeswoman said the shift changes were not part of plans to relocate outside the UK.

She said: "We continuously review all operations so we can allow our resources to meet peak periods.

"We try to accommodate people's preferences where possible.

"There are no plans to reduce staff in Darlington or anywhere else in our communications centres."