BRITISH Gas is axing 684 jobs in Oldbury after announcing its office and call centre will close.

Claire Miles, managing director of customer operations, said: “Since last summer British Gas has been implementing a strategy to improve service and reduce costs, to ensure we can price competitively.

"We must also respond to the changing needs of our customers, and they increasingly want to contact us online."

She added: “For these reasons we are planning to consolidate our activity on fewer sites, and we have made the difficult decision to propose closing our Oldbury office and call centre.”

“I recognise that today’s announcement represents difficult news for our employees who may be affected. Our priority now is to support all those potentially impacted, and to ensure a fair and transparent consultation process, working with our people and their representatives."

Over the next 45 days the company will hold a consultation on its plans and discuss the proposals with employees and their representatives.

If the Wolverhampton Road office closes British Gas Services has promised it will "explore redeployment opportunities for people whose roles are affected."

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, confirmed earlier this week, it lost 224,000 residential customers in the first three months of 2016.

Union leaders reacted with shock at the news that the Swallowfield One complex will close. 

Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB union, said: "This announcement has come completely out of the blue and is further evidence of the way British Gas now sees staff as pawns to be sacrificed when it suits.

"The Oldbury office has been performing well, the staff there have been delivering everything asked of them and more, yet all the while the company's top brass on their multimillion-pound pay packages have been harbouring secret plans to shut them down.

"The news will be devastating for the workforce and the local community, coming hot on the heels of npower's decision to also cut back its operations in Oldbury."

British Gas opened its state-of-the-art offices at Swallowfield One, Wolverhampton Road, in 2004.