THE death knell has been sounded on Burnley’s doomed Shop Direct call centre after the end of the review period between bosses and staff.

The 90-day long process finished this week with the town centre office still due to shut at the end of June.

Shop Direct announced in January that it planned to axe its Burnley call centre, in Kingsway, with the loss of 420 jobs, because more orders were being placed over the internet.

Since then, Usdaw union leaders have been in talks with the firm during the statutory 90-day consultation period to try to minimise the effect on staff.

Although most workers will be laid off at the end of June, some have found jobs nearby and ‘a number’ have taken up Shop Direct posts in Preston, Usdaw said.

Usdaw national officer David Johnson said: “The Burnley site will close at the end of June and we have agreed the terms of that now.

“We have agreed redundancy terms and the company has also released people from their contracts, where appropriate.”

He said some staff had found new positions at Sainsbury’s in Colne, which is currently being built in North Valley Road.

Meanwhile, five former Shop Direct workers have been taken on at the call centre of Nelson communications firm Daisy after enquiries from around 50 people.

Gareth Kirkwood, chief operating officer at Daisy, based on the Lomeshaye industrial estate, said: “The phones rang off the hook when we announced that we had potential vacancies for those facing redundancy at Shop Direct.

“As a leading Pendle employer remaining loyal to our East Lancashire roots, we are very keen to employ local talent whenever we can and glad we could come to the rescue of these former Shop Direct employees during uncertain times.”

He said that other staff were welcome to apply for current vacancies at the telecoms firm.

Despite the closure of Shop Direct, the number of people claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in Burnley dropped in March, the last month available, from 2,560 in February to 2,460.

However, that number could rise when the Shop Direct centre shuts for the final time on June 30.

Sainsbury’s was unavailable for comment.