A UNION has today stepped up its campaign to stop the loss of civil service jobs affecting people at a North-East site.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced recently that 100 jobs at Mowden Hall, in Darlington, were to be cut.

The job losses will be among 800 nationally in the first phase of a massive re-organisation of the department.

The future of the remaining jobs at Mowden Hall hang in the balance as permanent secretary for the DfES, David Normington, revealed that a further 610 jobs would be scrapped between 2006 and 2008.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has today launched a consultative ballot in light of the plans to cut a third of the workforce in the DfES.

In the ballot, which runs for the next four weeks, the union is asking its 2,500 members in the department to support a campaign that includes, lobbying MPs, negotiations with management and the media and possible industrial action.

PCS Darlington branch secretary Terry Hegarty has already shown support for action to address the long-term fate of the town's site.

The union stressed that industrial action was a long way off and a last resort and would need a further ballot.

Simon Elliot, PCS negotiations officer, said: "The real losers in the cuts will not only be staff who are facing months of uncertainty, but the service-users themselves.

"We're looking to mount a vigorous campaign and we cannot rule out industrial action should members feel it is appropriate.

"Our fear is that there will simply be too few staff left for the department to function.

"It is naive to think that you can simply cut a third of the workforce believing it won't have an adverse impact on services."