72 JOBS are at risk at the probation service in Essex.

The drastic cuts would mean one in three jobs would be lost, according to unions.

It would be the second round of major job losses in the past two years and is what staff feared would happen when the service was privatised. Sodexo took over the former Government-run service last year.

Elisa Vasquez-Walkers, chairman of Unison’s east of England probation branch, said: “There has been an increase in work because of changes in legislation.

“We’re expected to do more work with less people using new systems, which aren’t up and running. It looks to me like we are going to have less contact with people.”

Face-to-face meetings with those released from prison or undertaking community orders are considered crucial for reducing crime and stopping reoffending.

It is feared less staff will mean less help and could lead to more crime.

Sodexo, which also runs services in Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Bedfordshire, is due to cut more than 400 jobs nationally.

Ms Vasquez-Walkers said: “We are devastated people are losing their jobs, but the impact is not just on us, it’s on the community.

“We are very much a community service.

“If you put that in conjunction with cuts to police officers, PCSOs, court closures and overcrowded prisons, it’s just a horrible disaster waiting to happen.

“It was something the Government was desperately trying to rush through. What is happening now is we are unrolling the consequences of that.”

The company’s Essex services are also set to move later this year. In September, staff will have to move out of offices in Colchester, Chelmsford, Witham, Southend, Harlow, Thurrock and Basildon – but they still have not been told where they are moving to, according to the unions.

Sodexo has also been accused of seeking to impose a severance package worth less than half what members are owed.

Sharon Holder, national officer of the GMB union said: “Sodexo was well aware of our members’ contractual entitlement to redundancy pay when it bid for, and was awarded the contracts.

“Who will ever believe Sodexo’s claim to be an ethical employer when it’s pulling a fast one on redundancy pay.”

A Sodexo Justice Services spokesman said: “We have shared details of a voluntary severance offer and our proposed staffing levels with employees at our six community rehabilitation companies.

“We are consulting on plans, so it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.”