HARDLY a month goes by at the moment without some awful news about job losses in Inverclyde.

The latest blow, revealed by the Telegraph, is that the EE call centre will close down with 450 jobs lost to the local area.

BT, one of Britain's largest companies, should not close down their EE office because they have a very loyal workforce here.

I suspect that many of their staff will not make the move to their Glasgow office, particularly working mums who rely on childcare.

How could they possibly build a two hour round trip to Glasgow into their working day when they have children to drop off, and pick up from school or childminders?

Further, those that do opt to take up work in the Glasgow EE/BT office face spending a large amount of their monthly salaries on train travel.

Is it feasible for these workers to make the move?

BT will cause real damage to Inverclyde's local economy. Every job that leaves our area results in less money being spent in local shops, bars, restaurants and on taxis etc.

The impact of job losses cannot be underestimated. Our local area has already lost hundreds of jobs recently at the Amazon centre, TSC call centre, Berry Plastics, and had the last of the IBM offices move to Glasgow.

Can Inverclyde's economy take much more? Our young people, looking for a job, have such limited career choices as it is.

Politicians need to take action to resolve this issue. If BT group are genuinely saying that the Greenock office needs expensive modernisation then how can government assist with this? Renovating a building seems like a small step to save hundreds of jobs in an area considered to be an unemployment blackspot.

Similarly, if the rent they pay is very high, then politicians need to challenge that with building owners or landowners. We cannot afford to lose these jobs.

Inverclyde's population has been declining for decades. The people that leave the area tend to be the young, educated workforce.

Generally, they don't wish to leave, they leave because the employment situation is so dire that they have no choice. There is never any urgency to tackle this problem from the Scottish or UK governments.

I only hope that our two governments and local politicians can get together with the BT Group, and all stakeholders, to come up with a positive solution.

Chris Osborne

Greenock