FOLLOWING an announcement by Lloyds Bank on Friday to shed 198 employees from their operations in the East of Scotland, local Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman said he was re-assured that the area was the hub of call centre operations although concerned by the fact that job losses were to occur.

The MP for Crossgates, Hill of Beath and Moss-side, said: "I am disappointed that Lloyds have taken this difficult decision to reduce their workforce.

"I met with the company yesterday and while this is going to be a very uncertain time for some West Fife based employees, the company appear to be working as hard as they can to offer other opportunities, with full consultation and support for those who cannot be redeployed.

"While this is sad news for those who will have to leave Lloyds, the overall picture means that as part of this re-structure, other jobs will be moved into Lloyd's operations centre in Pitreavie in Dunfermline from Livingston (31) Rosyth (572) and other parts of the bank. It may not seem like good news for some, but this means that Pitreavie is actually strengthened as a strategic hub for the bank and that will be reflected in some of the additional investment to improve working conditions in the Pitreavie site".

He added: "Clearly no one likes the idea of job losses, but this also means that Dunfermline and West Fife can continue to be promoted as a centre for financial services, with Nationwide, Sainsbury's Bank and a new Handlesbanken local office all being located in the town and giving us a real foothold in this key jobs market. We could have easily been on the wrong end of a complete closure as has been the case with other banking operations elsewhere.

"I will continue to work with the company to see what other opportunities lie ahead for Lloyds in Dunfermline and I also hope to speak with trade union and staff representatives at the Pitreavie site early next week."