UNION bosses say workers at a popular hotel chain in Brierley Hill have been left "crushed" at plans to move their jobs to Europe.

More than 100 jobs are believed to be under threat at the InterContinental Hotels Group call centre off Dudley Road

Workers are currently being consulted on the plan to relocate call centre services to Portugal - the GMB told the News.

Amanda Gearing, senior organiser for the GMB Birmingham and West Midlands region, said: “This is terrible news – the staff affected are absolutely crushed.

“They have families and lives in the West Midlands – they can’t be expected to up sticks and move to Portugal."

She said staff at the InterContinental Hotels Group have been told their jobs are moving because the Brierly Hill site has the “highest cost globally compared to similar operations”.

An IHG spokesperson said a consultation with staff was under way at the Brierley Hill site about the plan to change "to a new provider in Europe with a higher number of native speakers" which is aimed at improving "operational efficiencies" across central reservation services.

Concerned at the news - Dudley South MP Mike Wood said he has spoken to IHG and the move appears to be related to plans to transfer call centre services from an existing provider in Bucharest to a new provider in Lisbon.

He stressed the proposed changes "have absolutely nothing to do with Brexit" and said: "It's obviously terrible news for the people involved.

"I'm seeing what can be done with Jobcentre Plus and businesses in the Black Country which have sizeable call centres based here to see whether they can look at taking on some of the staff who will lose their jobs - assuming those proposals are carried out - and what can be done to support them to find new work.

"Anything I can do to help with individual cases I obviously will."

Mr Wood can be contacted at his constituency office in Wordsley High Street on 01384 913123 or by email mikej.wood.mp@parliament.uk.