THE closure of the Droitwich Spa Army Medal Office could threaten other civil service jobs in the building.

That is the fear of Mid Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, who has pointed out the that the offices, currently owned by the Ministry of Defence, are also occupied by Ordnance Survey and Customs & Excise.

Ordnance Survey already has plans to vacate the buildings, but the same is not true of Customs and Excise.

Mr Luff posed the question of the safety of the jobs in Parliament.

"I want to know what assessment have been made of the implications for the Droitwich Spa office of Customs and Excise of the proposed closure of the Army Medal Office," he said.

The Economic Secretary, John Healey, replied that "customs are now considering the implications for its 115 staff based at Droitwich and are exploring alternative accommodation options."

Responding to this, Mr Luff added: "I am deeply concerned by this answer.

"I expect the rental costs of the existing office are modest and it will be difficult to find alternative accommodation in Droitwich at the same rate.

"This means the closure of the Army Medal Office will not only lead to many of these staff losing their jobs and to a massive delay in the issuing of medals, but possibly also to the creation of real problems for the staff of Customs and Excise."