NEARLY 100 jobs are to go in an Essex town after the Royal Mail announced it would be closing a customer service centre. The company is shutting its Colchester operation in St Peter's Street as it centralises services into five major bases across the UK.

NEARLY 100 jobs are to go in an Essex town after the Royal Mail announced it would be closing a customer service centre.

The company is shutting its Colchester operation in St Peter's Street as it centralises services into five major bases across the UK.

The jobs will go by March next year although bosses are claiming there will be no compulsory redundancies.

Instead workers have been offered the option of voluntary redundancy or the opportunity to apply for alternative roles.

The changes come as the Royal Mail attempts to streamline services after the postal market was opened up to competition for the first time in January.

But Kevan Pugh , secretary of the Colchester and district branch of the Communication Workers Union, said morale at Colne Bank House had been hit hard.

He said: “Morale is low as everyone, in one way and another, will be affected - we are disappointed by the news and some of the staff were quite upset as some have had quite long service there.

“The company has a policy of no compulsory redundancies but it may be hard to accommodate everybody.

“We are disappointed with the news just before Christmas and people are now facing an unsure future.”

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail will be centralising its customer service operation into five large purpose-built UK call centres over the coming months.

“This is part of a continuous process of improvement, streamlining and maximising benefits of scale to increase efficiency and service to Royal Mail customers in the face of external competition.”

The changes are due to be completed by March and Royal Mail has said services will not be interrupted - claiming customers will enjoy faster response times and quick resolution of enquiries.