Liberata has announced it wants to move the work to its offices in Barrow and Sheffield in the north of England.

The organisation said it was part of internal changes, moving towards a shared service centre.

The local branch of the public services union, Unison, is urging the council to bring the work back in-house.

'Disgraceful treatment'

Branch secretary Bob Cretchley said: "Firstly we believe it's going to have a very detrimental effect on the service in Swindon by shifting it to Sheffield and Barrow.

"Secondly, we believe it's an absolutely disgraceful way to treat staff.

Liberata took over the running of the borough's benefit services in August 2002 after the previous provider lost its contract.

A statement from the company said: "Liberata aim to continuously provide the best service to councils in the UK.

"Providing a resilient service by working for multiple clients from a single location enables us to achieve this.

"Every effort will be made to redeploy employees."