UK bank Abbey National is set to spend £5.5 million sterling (€7.8 million) and create 149 jobs in its customer support call centre in Belfast.

Northern Ireland Office Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Mr Ian Pearson, yesterday announced that the bank was planning a two-year investment programme for its Mays Meadow software and call centre, where it already employs more than 700 people.

Abbey National plans to create a customer relationship management operation at the centre. It will create 63 jobs in the first year of the project and a further 86 over the second phase.

A statement from the North's Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment said Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) had offered financial assistance of £768,000 to the project.

Mr Pearson described the investment as significant and predicted that it would further develop the type of added-value service that Invest NI was keen to support.

"It offers the opportunity to build capability in this sector and strengthens Belfast's position as a premier location for financial service companies - a sector identified as a key target in Invest NI's information and communications strategy," he said.

Mr Pearson added that Abbey National had a good track record in the city and said the announcement reflected its confidence in the quality of staff available locally.

The development will make Belfast the main centre for Abbey National's customer outreach programme.

Customer sales director Mr Mark Pain said the bank intended to focus on UK personal financial services. He said the centre was part of a root-and-branch change under way at the bank, which aims to strengthen relationships with personal finance customers.