HMRC has defended keeping hundreds of employees working in its offices at Longbenton amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As employees nationwide are advised to work from home wherever possible, hundreds are still travelling to Benton Park View to man phone lines for the tax and customs body.
Bosses insist they are following government guidelines to reduce the spread of infection and have put measures in place locally including social distancing which has seen staff dispersed across buildings at the site
Those who do not work in customer service roles have been told to work from home, while "vulnerable" employees have been told to go home "with immediate effect".
But one person who contacted Chronicle Live concerned for the health and safety of remaining employees in the heavily-staffed buildings said: "Employees have been advised they will not be working from home at all because the phone lines must be fully staffed, even though it's of course possible to contact HMRC by email and online. Manning the HMRC phone lines is more important than a global pandemic.
"While employees cancel their leisure activities for the foreseeable future in order to be responsible citizens, they will lose their job if they refuse to enter buildings each containing [large numbers of] other people."
Social distancing advice insists people avoid large groups, but for those who work in large offices and aren't allowed to work from home, it's not possible to avoid contact with groups of a size which can increase the risk of a virus spreading widely.
An HMRC spokesperson said: “Our first priority is the protection of staff and their families. We have already told colleagues that may be vulnerable that they should work from home and staff who are not in direct service roles should work from home where it’s possible.
“Staff in customer-facing roles, such as those who answer calls, continue to work from our offices so long as they are well enough to do so – we have processes in place to protect their health.
"We are doing this so we can continue to provide vital services which keep money flowing to families and support citizens, and businesses, through these difficult times.”
HMRC has not confirmed the exact number of staff left on the Longbenton site.
