by Ian Austen

ian.austen@essnmedia.co.uk

A union is stepping up its campaign to save 150 jobs at the Land Registry in Croydon by drawing up an alternative to the Government's strategy.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union will publish its document later this month.

It believes it can save jobs in Croydon and at four other centres, which are also earmarked for closure by 2011.

Lesley Browne is secretary of the PCS' Croydon branch and also works for the Land Registry.

She said: "Our alternative strategy will present ways of saving jobs and creating more work for the Land Registry."

She claimed the overall registry has not been updated since 1920 and that only 70 per cent of properties are registered.

"We believe there is plenty of work for us to do and we will continue to fight to save the jobs," Ms Browne said.

The union believes closure would be bad for people using the Land Registry's public counters such as solicitors, home buyers and developers.

And the loss of jobs would also affect businesses and retailers in Croydon used by the staff and result in more people claiming benefits from the council, Ms Browne said.

She added that the Land Registry's intention was to close all its operations in the south east, transferring most of them to the north.

"Our nearest offices will now be in Gloucester or Leicester and while some people may want to move, many won't want to relocate that far away from where they have worked and where they have family," Ms Browne explained.

She added that 57 per cent of staff likely to lose their jobs in Croydon were over the age of 46.

"The Land Registry will be losing all that experience and yet is talking about recruiting 150 new staff a year in the north with no experience," she said.

The bid to keep open the Land Registry in Bedford Park already has support from Croydon South MP Richard Ottaway and Croydon Central MP Andrew Pelling.

A meeting has been arranged with Croydon North MP Malcolm Wicks in a bid to get him on their side.

The Land Registry registers title to land in England and Wales, carries out property searches for buyers and records dealings with registered land.

The Croydon office covers not just the borough but also Bexley, Bromley, Sutton, Kingston, Merton, Camden and the City of Westminster.

Ms Browne said the offices in Bedford Park were opened just two years ago by the Princess Royal and cost £30 million.

She said: "Originally it was built to take headquarters' staff as well but now they have shelved all that and are trying to sell the building for just £12 million."

The other four centres under threat from closure are Peterborough, Portsmouth, Stevenage and Tunbridge Wells.