Jobseekers have said they’re fearful about getting hired at the new Tesco depot in Rainham following the news of 900 redundancies in Harlow.

Dagenham and Rainham MP Jon Cruddas has said he will be meeting the company to discuss the implications for local job prospects.

A Tesco spokesman said the company was in talks with staff in Harlow over possible moves to the Beam Reach depot when it opens in June.

But Keith Allan, 55, from Hornchurch, who is applying to the new distribution centre, expects most of the positions to be filled by Harlow employees.

He said: “It would be nice to consider local people first for the jobs but I have been in the same situation as the guys in Harlow and if you can move with the job you do.

“If you can get four in the car and drive down it’s worth it. Even now if my job was 20 miles away and I had to cycle I would do it.”

Lee Corbett, 32, of Chadwell Heath, who has worked on and off for the last year, agreed: “I thought I would definitely be able to get a job but now I probably don’t stand a chance.”

Another jobseeker emailed the Recorder this week saying that he had attended a talk in Harold Hill in March 2012 about applying for the 900 jobs being available at the new centre.

He added that “at the end our e-mail addresses were taken and we were told that we would be notified when the recruitment process would begin” but said he had still not heard anything.

Similar events took place in Rainham at the time.

A spokesman for the company said that the recruitment process would begin soon and that those who signed up will be contacted.

Dagenham and Rainham MP Jon Cruddas is meeting with Tesco to discuss how many of the promised jobs at the new distribution centre at Beam Reach will go to local people.

He said: “Throughout my discussions on this project my concerns have been to ensure as many local people as possible find work at the new distribution centre.

“Times are hard and we need as many job opportunities as we can for local people. I was of the view that this new site was not linked to other closures and redeployments.”