ABOUT a dozen Norwich Union life assurance staff at York were made redundant today, but a spokeswoman for the company has reiterated that there are no current plans for further redundancies.

The "no current plans" statement was first made on Tuesday when the spokeswoman said that the 3,000 life assurance jobs in York were safe - and formed no part of nearly 900 job losses announced by parent company Aviva elsewhere in the country.

The remark provoked phone calls to the Evening Press by life assurance staff at York who were to be made redundant today. One of them, who preferred to remain anonymous, said some of those who were leaving this afternoon were in sales administration, public relations, customer relations and marketing.

But a Norwich Union spokeswoman said today's redundancies formed part of an announcement made last March that 90 of the 495 sales and marketing jobs split between York, Norwich and Stevenage were to go.

"It formed no part of Tuesday's new announcement and we stand by the fact that there are no current plans affecting jobs in life assurance business in York. We have been open and above board, keeping everyone informed every step of the way as well as offering help to find alternative jobs within the company or outside."

Updated: 13:27 Friday, July 18, 2003