Staff at a Kings Hill call centre are facing redundancy.

Voyages-sncf.com, the internet travel agency, has announced it is reviewing its operations at its Tower Hill base.

A spokesman was unable to give specific details about the plans, but said workers would be given support during the process.

In a statement the firm said: “The UK is one of the most important markets for voyages-sncf, and reflecting demand from our UK customers we are moving more and more towards online activities and investing heavily in technological developments and services as we continue to work towards growing our market share of the business in the UK.”

But an insider has told the Kent Messenger that around 40 staff has been given notice that they will lose their jobs in January - a large proportion of the workforce.

The worker, who did not want to be named, said: “We are guessing that it will happen to the rest of us too at some stage.

"I’m loyal to the company but since it was taken over two years ago the French have come in with a big hammer and broken something that was working really well.

“We will give our colleagues the best support that we can.

“Some of them are young and have mortgages and weddings to pay for. I really feel for them.”

Voyages-sncf.com is the official European ticket seller for the French railways (SNCF) and for high-speed and conventional rail travel throughout France and Europe.

The head office and call centre for the firm, known as Rail Europe until 2013, were relocated from London to the custom-built offices in Kings Hill in 2002.

The relocation created 200 jobs - 40 at head office, and 160 in the call centre - but around half of that number remained before the review.