More than 300 jobs have been created in Bedfordshire with the opening of Vauxhall's new pan-European Customer Contact Centre.

Staff at Charlton House, in Toddington, will handle an average of 750,000 calls a year from 33 countries.

The new building joins Vauxhall's existing operations in the Luton area, including its headquarters. Vauxhall also has a manufacturing plant nearby which builds Vivaro vans and the UK parts distribution centre.

The highly advanced centre had its official opening yesterday to customers and retailers across Europe.  It will support 33 countries with state-of-the-art facilities, enabling agents to deliver a world-class service to customers.  For retailers, advisers will offer advice about vehicle diagnosis, field reports and order tracking.

Countries managed by the Customer Contact Centre are Austria, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Finland, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia Herzogovina, Macedonia, Hungary, Romania, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and United Kingdom.

Rory Harvey, managing director of Vauxhall Motors, said: "This is a fantastic move for our business. Having a multi-lingual, cutting-edge team working within hi-tech facilities, will empower staff to focus on operational excellence."