THOUSANDS of people have signed a petition in support of workers at United Biscuits who fear their jobs may be moved to India.

People from across Liverpool gathered at the Lyceum, on Bold Street, on Saturday, to support staff from the firm’s Binns Road offices, in Wavertree, after trade union Unite said the company plans to move 170 jobs abroad. Debbie Brannan, regional officer for Unite, said: “It went really well and there was a lot of support from the local people.

“The workers seem quite upbeat because of the support they’re getting, but getting support and getting the company to not make that decision might be different.

“At the moment, the general feeling is really positive. They’ve issued a statement which means they’re listening to us, if they hadn’t done that, we’d be more concerned.

“Quite a lot of the workers have been with the company for over 30 years and trying to get another job like that in Liverpool will be hard, because they are high-skilled jobs.”

A spokeswoman for the Jacob’s Cream Crackers firm said: “We communicate directly with our employees and the labour unions on all issues that affect them. We are disappointed Unite is presenting misleading and inaccurate information to and about our employees at the Binns Road site.”

On Tuesday, Unite will meet the company to discuss the potential move.