A new call centre in Bradford will create 250 jobs for the city, it was announced today.

It comes as a major boost for Bradford's call centre industry, which had been reeling from the news that Abbey National is planning to move some of its staff overseas.

Loop Customer Management, based in Thornbury, hopes to finalise a multi-million pound contract to provide the facility in the district.

Loop is now planning a major recruitment drive which will see its total workforce increase by more than a third from its current 600.

And an innovative recruitment tactic will see company managers handing out cards to people they meet, whether a bartender, butcher or baker, who they feel have excellent customer service skills.

Recruitment manager Corine Brooksbank said: "We feel our methods of recruitment can affect the type of candidate we attract. It is essential we attract candidates who can embody the Loop ethos and culture and we hope this new approach will achieve this."

Today Loop managing director Alastair Thomson said he hoped the future contract would provide a major boost for his firm and for Bradford.

Loop has built a new office on its site just off the Thornbury roundabout to house its expanding workforce.

The firm is owned by the Kelda Group, parent company of Bradford-based Yorkshire Water. As well as providing customer service for Yorkshire Water, it also serves the Welsh Tourism Board, B&Q, Merseyside Fire and Rescue and the National Blood Service. Mr Thomson said: "We are not the sort of business you immediately think of when you talk about call centres. We invest very heavily in the people here."

And he said modern, high quality call centres still had a future in Bradford.

He said: "The key to our success is by being distinctive and being good at what we do."

Councillor Simon Cooke, Bradford Council's executive member for regeneration, described the announcement as "great news".

He said: "I am delighted that Loop are bringing high quality jobs to the people of Bradford.

"It shows that businesses in Bradford are working hard to secure new contracts and they are delivering. These are the kind of organisations that we need to be encouraging to the city."

Mr Cooke said there was still an opportunity to develop jobs in the call centre sector. But he said firms had to follow Loop's lead and make the jobs "about more than just answering telephones".

He said: "That is a very important message here. At a time when there is still a lot of debate about jobs going overseas, businesses like Loop are still developing call centre jobs in Bradford and shows there is still life in the industry yet."

Staff are expected to begin work in the new building in October.