Up to 60 jobs in Keighley could be lost after the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) announced plans to centralise its benefits service in Bradford.

The Keighley News can reveal that staff at the Benefits Office, at Worth House, in Worth Way, were told by their managers that the move was an attempt by the DWP to be more cost effective.

The plans are for all processing of income support, job seekers allowance and incapacity benefit to be moved to Leeds Road, in Bradford city centre, by the end of 2005.

Jobcentre Plus staff at Alice Street would be moved to Worth House and the size of the workforce would be reduced by half.

The Keighley News has been told there are currently 40 staff at the Jobcentre in Alice Street and 83 in Worth House. But once Jobcentre Plus rolls out, the proposal is for 60 posts only.

A worried employee said: "Civil servants are viewed by the public as obsolete pen pushers, but in reality they are delivering essential services to those in our town who are in need. This is the thin end of the wedge. We do not know how many posts there will be at Leeds Road and have no assurances that there will be posts for the remaining 63."

Shirley Cunningham, the Public and Civil Service Union (PCS) representative at Worth House, said: "Everyone is quite upset about it. We are currently in negotiations with management to try to alter things as much as we can."

There is concern that the move would mean claims from Keighley would take longer to process, but Simon Wilkinson, of the DWP, said: "We will be sending information electronically, where appropriate, without compromising customer confidentiality, and will be using all the latest technology.

"We already have targets which have been introduced which we have to meet and it would be inaccurate to say claims would take longer if we were to work from Bradford. These targets will still be in place and have to be adhered to."

Without confirming or denying the job cuts, he added: "This whole process is about creating improvements to customer services and streamlining to create greater efficiency. It supports the move towards Jobcentre Plus and supports the Government's Welfare to Work policy.

"The people of Keighley will be able to go to one point of contact to get information about benefits and also obtain advice and support to find work. Jobcentre Plus has already been introduced successfully in many towns and cities throughout the UK, and this is part of the plan to introduce the same scheme to Keighley. Details haven't been fully determined but staff will be informed and consulted throughout the process of change."

The announcement has come just weeks after the Government's plan to shed 40,000 posts in the Civil Service across the country.

Another PCS spokesman said: "Our main concern is the impact it will have on the community. This is a blow to those people who might lose their jobs but also to people who use the service.

"The office is the heart of the community. In centralising it, it will diminish public access and deny them their right to face-to-face meetings with their case worker.

"The irony is that the Department of Work and Pensions is supposed to be putting people into work, and here they are making people redundant."