British Telecom has confirmed that 5,000 agency workers will lose their jobs at the company over the next two years.

The workers are mainly employed in BT call centres but some of the jobs will be IT contractors, a spokesman confirmed.

He explained: ‘Very possibly a small number [will be IT contractors] but the bulk will be call centre people.’

The job losses are part of a cost-reduction programme designed to cut costs by around £850 million in its retail division.

A spokesman confirmed that around 9,000 jobs had already gone from the division as part of the ongoing programme.