UK breakdown services company RAC is to have its workforce reduced by around 330 by new owners Norwich Union as part of a cost cutting exercise.

Staff redundancies will initially involve about 210 cuts at the company’s Darlington call center and a further 120 in Morecambe, the company said.

The job cuts come as Norwich Union has decided to close the two northern England call centers as it looks to save GBP80 million by combining its workforce with the RAC’s. The insurer said back in March, when it acquired the RAC motoring group in a GBP1.1 billion deal, that it was intending to reduce its UK workforce by 1,700 through 900 job reductions and offshoring the remaining 800 positions.

The news has angered trade union Amicus, which accused Aviva, Norwich Union’s parent company, of ignoring redundancy laws by failing to consult it and staff about the plan. An Amacus representative also said Aviva had shown a cavalier disregard to RAC employees. In response Norwich Union said it was not breaking any labor laws.

Despite the criticism, Aviva has also revealed that, in addition to the announced reductions, it had already identified 380 more positions across both Norwich Union and the RAC which can be phased out.