An angry BHS worker has condemned the way Carlisle staff have been treated by the chain over its deal with Primark.

Rosie Graham, 27, of Orton Road, had found another job after they were initially told in July that the store was closing, with them all to be made redundant.

But she was headhunted back to the English Street store in September when BHS announced a shock U-turn .

Then last week she, along with her 50-plus colleagues, were left stunned by the news the store would in fact be closing in January to make way for Carlisle’s long-awaited Primark store.

Miss Graham, who works at the in-store restaurant run by contractor Compass, said she was not the only member of staff to have given up another job to return to BHS.

“We were told in July it was closing so I went out and got myself another job. I worked there for about two months when I got asked to go back to BHS as a supervisor,” she explained.

“I did really like the new job and they didn’t want me to leave but I was offered a promotion so I had to take it really. It seemed like a no-brainer.

“But I’d only been back three weeks when we were told again that it was closing. How can that happen? We just feel so let down.”

She continued: “We are sure BHS have known all along that they weren’t going to stay open but allowed it to happen.

“We are just a number to them. The first time it happened we were upset. Now we are just angry.”

Miss Graham, who had taken a job at a local convenience store, stressed that it is not the bosses at Carlisle BHS she is angry with - as they face redundancy too – but those higher up in the hierachy.

“ There are over 50 people who work in the Carlisle store. About seven or eight of us got other jobs and all except two came back. I feel so stupid for leaving another job to go back there,” she added.

Earlier this week Carlisle City Council’s deputy leader Elsie Martlew said she had been appalled at the way staff have been treated.

“It looks to me like there has been an internal squabble within BHS,” she said. “The staff at the Carlisle store deserve more than an apology for this.”

Miss Graham said she does not know where she stands as the restaurant was recently taken over by catering firm Compass, meaning those working in the cafe are not employed directly by BHS.

She said they have yet to hear back from Compass bosses since the announcement so will seek advice from Carlisle Law Centre.

The BHS store is set to remain open until the beginning of January, when it will close permanently. Primark are then set to renovate the store ready to open in winter 2016.

But Miss Graham said staff had lost all motivation because of the way they have been treated, but unless they stay right until the end they won’t get redundancy payments. She said loyal customers have even told them they are boycotting the store.

Although BHS staff are likely to get first refusal on the 140-plus jobs Primark will create, she said it was no good to most as they would have to wait almost a year for the new posts.

A BHS spokeswoman confirmed it was consulting with staff and was trying to find people jobs in other stores.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal customers and colleagues in Carlisle for their support over the years,” she added, “and hope to return to the city one day.”

Another BHS employee, who asked not to be named for fear of it affecting her redundancy payment, said: “We will never know the truth but it seems Primark has been the deal all along. It doesn’t make sense otherwise because this is a profit-making store in Carlisle.

“It’s just disgusting, the way they have treated us. We’ve been loyal to them now they expect us to run the shop down and be out of a job in the new year.”