HUNDREDS of jobs are to be created with the further expansion of one of North Yorkshire's fastest-growing employers.

The CPP group is to increase the number of people at its international headquarters and call centre in York by 200.

That will take the total number on the payroll at the Holgate Park complex from 900 to 1,100 by the end of the year.

The news is a boost for a city that has suffered a succession of job loss announcements, including three major closures; Thrall Europa's rail wagon factory, Terry's, and the York Pensions Centre, at Monks Cross.

The extra staff are needed at CPP to cope with the growing volume of work, such as offering protection for customers cards, keys, wallets and purses, giving car roadside assistance and insuring mobile phones.

The new intake places CPP firmly in the top five major employers in York and the company said the move underlined its determination to keep its call centre in York and not move jobs to India.

The trend to move jobs was a factor in the announced closure of Terry's next year, with the loss of more than 300 jobs, when chocolate production transfers to Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.

Most of the jobs will be in CPP's customer contact centre, although it will also be recruiting in the IT, marketing and finance departments.

Group human resources director Kevin Fisher said: "We are as committed to York as when we first moved to the city five years ago.

"As long as we can continue to recruit in York to the numbers that we need - and we have the facilities and space for more - then we will."

CPP employs 1,500 people at offices in York, London and Tamworth.