CALL centre staff across Swindon can rest assured that their jobs will not be following those of their Thames Water colleagues to India.

That, at least, is the message from other firms with call centres in the town.

Thames Water is shedding 150 jobs from its call centre in Kembrey Park.

It is the latest in a trend among companies worldwide, including insurance giant Prudential and American Express, who are attracted by the lower wages demanded by Indian workers sometimes as much as 80 percent lower than the £15-17,000 typically paid in the UK.

But other Swindon firms insist they are not following the trend.

Among them is Blick, the security, communications and time management firm whose Swindon call centre employs about 40 people.

Group marketing manager, Malcolm Rose, explained: "We are very pleased with the quality of the staff we have here they are excellent.

"We are totally committed to staying in the Swindon area, and we invest in our staff by putting them through the NVQ qualification for call centre staff."

It is a similar story at Venues Unlimited, the leading independent conference venue and accommodation agency, which has 100 customer services telephone staff.

Business development manager, Andrew Brewerton, said: "What we are actually looking at is growth as a company employing local people."

Intel spokesman, Graham Palmer, declined for business reasons to reveal how many staff the computer giant had at its premises throughout the country.

But he insisted: "A number of those people are based in Swindon, and we have no specific plans to change that."

Book club BCA's long association with Swindon includes a call centre which employs about 110 people, with more taken on as temps to cover the Christmas rush.

Spokeswoman, Lyn Alderson, said there were no plans to switch the call centre operation to India or anywhere else apart from Swindon.

At West Swindon-based Endeavour, the brown and white goods service and supply firm formerly known as Thornlink, there was a similar message from customer services director Brendan Bulfin.

He said: "This is not only our contact centre, it is our head office and we have made a significant investment in the building and the area.

"Swindon is popular, so I can see no reason why we should be looking to move anywhere else."