BARCLAYS is creating more than 300 new jobs in Poole – in its customer complaints department.

The move from the banking giant – which is Britain’s most complained-about bank – comes just a few months after it said it was making more than 100 redundancies.

In January, the Daily Echo reported that Barclays was reviewing its pensions administration function and had decided to contract it out to a third party from October 1 this year, putting 126 jobs at risk.

But now, it has confirmed that it is recruiting for both permanent and temporary roles in a different department at the iconic Barclays House in the town.

Figures published by the Financial Services Authority disclosed that in 2011 the bank received a total of 533,047 complaints, of which 281,484 came in the final six months of the year.

These were largely as a result of an increasing number of payment protection insurance mis-selling claims and topped complaints received by Lloyds TSB by more than 110,000.

The move to take on staff has nonetheless been welcomed by civic and business leaders.

Recruitment firm Reed Consulting said more than 300 new workers were being taken on in total, with start dates as early as April 30.

A Barclays spokesman said: “We can confirm we’re recruiting for a number of temporary and permanent roles at Barclays House in Poole as part of our investment in the agenda of managing customer complaints.

“The way in which we manage our complaints procedures is a top priority for Barclays and these new roles will support the ongoing work already being undertaken by existing employees across the organisation.”

Borough of Poole leader Cllr Elaine Atkinson described the jobs as “really good news for Poole and is a welcome addition to supporting the town’s vibrant economy”.

She added: “This follows recent announcements of the RNLI bringing its production and maintenance of their all-weather lifeboats in-house to its HQ facility in Poole and Condor Ferries rescheduling all its sailings from Weymouth to Poole throughout the summer.

“These announcements clearly show Poole is open for business.”

Michael Regenhardt, president of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry said: “It’s very positive for Poole as a town and very positive that they are trying to make sure all their customers are looked after properly.”

Reed said start dates would continue every two weeks until July.

The jobs include supporting customers with payment protection insurance claims.