COURIER giant TNT is to close down its international depot near Southampton and relocate 30 miles away in Hampshire.

The move to Alton, north of Winchester, will affect all of the current 47 TNT International workers at the site, with up to nine customer services jobs under threat.

Officials from TGWU will meet TNT management on January 29th, in the first formal consultation over the move.

The busy depot at Nursling industrial estate is being merged with one at Alton, where 100 people are currently employed.

According to TNT, the site in Nursling will be closed down by April 24. It is understood that the lease is nearly at an end.

TNT stressed that the relocation does not affect its other depot at the Nursling industrial estate, where 170 people are employed on domestic deliveries under the banner TNT Express.

The Alton depot is currently used by TNT Express, and the integration of TNT International from Nursling will bring the full complement of staff there to about 135.

A TNT spokesman cited "pragmatic business reasons" for the relocation, and said any redundancies were "regrettable".

The company says it aims to redeploy under-threat staff elsewhere, if possible.

TNT International staff at Nursling, including lorry drivers and handlers, were broken the news in small groups.

Workers immediately raised concerns about the distance involved in travelling to and from Alton, and the extra cost of motoring.

One employee said: "Most of them are demoralised. I drove to Alton and back, which was a round trip of 70 miles, and it cost me £10 in petrol. That's £200 extra a month."

TNT acknowledged the extra drain on pay packets, but pointed out that there would be some financial help with travel costs for a set period.

That "cash cushion" condition was part of an agreement between the union and the logistics company, which delivers anything from small parcels to bulky freight.

No one was immediately available from the union to comment on the relocation implications.