CALL centres are known as the modern sweatshop, but Swindon owes a debt of gratitude to the companies that have provided jobs since the disintegration of the railway industry in the town.

But now a new challenge is threatening to put out of work more than 2,000 jobs in Swindon's 14 call centres. The unions obviously have an interest in highlighting this issue and by ringing alarm bells in the media.

But the fact is that more big companies are turning to countries like India to make savings in their operating costs. And this is not a case of trimming the budget labour costs in India are around 80 per cent lower than in this country and there is a pool of highly trained and motivated staff to choose from.

Thames Water says it has yet to decide where the 150 jobs currently in Swindon will go. But by putting the contract out to tender it appears inevitable that it will move abroad.

The danger is that other companies will be forced to follow suit.

We can only hope they feel that they are getting value from the investment they have put into Swindon. And we challenge them today to reiterate their on-going commitment to our town.