Around 20 jobs are to be axed at Southend's Customs and Excise branch as part of a national shake-up for the organisation.

Bosses today reassured workers in Victoria Avenue the posts will be lost through natural wastage with no compulsory redundancies.

The news comes a month after the Queen and Prince Phillip visited the offices on their visit to Southend.

Around 1,200 jobs nationwide are to go over the next three years as a result of new, more efficient technology being introduced.

Spokesman Mark Thompson said: "About 400 jobs will go every year but there will be no cuts in the smuggling division or tax collection where staff can't be replaced by machines.

"We are centralising accounts and introducing VAT returns on the Internet to improve value for money and efficiency.

"We will be able to do this without redundancies.

"In Southend we are expecting 35 people to leave through retirement."

The 2,119 staff in Southend, which is the biggest customs branch in the country, mainly deal with VAT returns, accounting, audits, freight, imports and exports.

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