WORKERS have been told their insurance jobs are safe for the time being following takeover talks.

Life assurance and pensions firm Legal and General, which employs 850 at its Hove and Burgess Hill offices, is likely to be taken over by the NatWest bank in a £10.75 billion deal.

The move has been the topic of a weekend of talks and the companies reached an agreement which has to be approved by shareholders and regulators.

Legal and General is one of the biggest employers in Hove and has been in Montefiore Road for more than 15 years.

MP Ivor Caplin, who worked for Legal and General for 19 years as a quality manager in the sales division before he was elected in 1997, has written to chief executive David Prosser asking for job safeguards.

He said: "Inevitably the speculation is unsettling for all and there needs to be a clear and early signal that these important Hove jobs are safe."

A Legal and General spokesman said today: "There's certainly no intention of job losses as things stand but you can never say never.

"The NatWest has been very careful to say there may be job losses in the combined group in the long term but in the immediate future it's business as usual.

"Staff will not notice any difference at all."

No one from the NatWest was available for comment.

The Manufacturing Science and Finance Union is confident the merger will not lead to job cuts at Legal and General.

A spokesman said: "We are meeting the company to discuss in detail the repercussions for jobs and future employment.

"We have been kept fully informed about the negotiations and we hope the merger will result in a stronger company which will safeguard jobs."

However, finance union UNIFI is calling for talks with NatWest about possible job losses at the bank.

Spokesman Gwyn Bates said: "UNIFI wants to ensure that there will be no compulsory redundancies and that any job losses are managed through natural wastage or volunteers."

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