Sixty new jobs will be created in Colchester over the next 12 months.

Eastgate Assistance, which provides telephone helpline services, is offering the new jobs at its Colchester Business Park premises after getting the contract to provide call centre services for Reactfast.

A recruitment drive in the town has already seen 30 members of staff in place and the team is expected to double in size as the service develops.

Reactfast is an emergency maintenance business serving homeowners and businesses.

Employees will be handling calls for emergency assistance and enquires for estimates on work from across Britain.

Jo Scales, Reactfast manager at Eastgate Assistance, said: "This is a very important development. The Reactfast contract is our first venture outside our traditional insurance business."

The company employs nearly 700 people in its two call centres in the town.

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