Mobile telephone giant Vodafone is to close its Oxfordshire call centre with the loss of 400 jobs, it was revealed tonight.

The company said it was shutting its site on the Banbury Business Park, Adderbury, next year to “improve and simplify the service we offer our customers.”

Vodafone added it would be recruiting more than 200 staff to bolster its workforce at other call centres in Newark, near Nottingham, Stoke and Didsbury near Manchester.

But human resources director Matthew Brearley admitted it was unlikely staff from Adderbury would transfer to other parts of the country, athough some would be offered positions at the company’s Newbury headquarters.

He said: “We are very aware that for a lot of individuals it will be a big step for them to move, although the opportunity is there.

“Many people won’t want to make that decision so we are also offering very good support with a redundancy programme and package of financial support.”

Mr Brearley denied the move was being made for financial reasons and said larger sites were being transformed into “centres of excellence” and Adderbury did not have the space to do so.

A consultation period will now start with workers and will be ongoing with the last staff expected to leave the site by June next year.

Vodafone has been at the Adderbury site since 1996 when it acquired the existing Talkland business.

The job losses will come as a major blow to the north Oxfordshire economy and follows food manufacturer Kraft’s announcement earlier this year that 150 customer service jobs would be axed in Banbury and Sheffield.

Latest figures show there are 1,632 people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in the Cherwell District Council area.

But Mr Brearley added: “Banbury has half the average UK unemployment rate. It is a good location, the quality of our people is very high and I am confident those people will secure roles. We don’t take these decisions lightly.”

Last night, Banbury MP Tony Baldry said: “This is a serious blow — 400 jobs is a substantial number. It's possible that some of those will be able to relocate, but I think we are probably going to have to work on the basis that a large number will be redundant.

"I understand that there is six months before it happens and clearly Vodafone and the local community need to get to work in that time to see what can be done to get other jobs for those who may be made redundant. We need to help them get back into work as soon as possible."

But Chris White, of commerical property agents White Commercial, said Vodafone's buildings at Adderbury would prove difficult to re-let.

He added: "It will be difficult to find occupiers who want buildings of that size. There is already a good supply of office space in north Oxfordshire."

Empty buildings in Banbury include the Alcan aluminium factory and one of Hella's motor accessory factories.