We've heard indirectly three times in the last fortnight that staff have been told the office, in King Street, will close at the end of next month, with only a basic enquiry service left behind.

But a call to HMRC saw us told only that the office would cease operations by the end of March 2011 - in line with an announcement by treasury minister Stephen Timms MP in January.

On attempting to clarify matters with local staff, we were told individual employees were not allowed to talk to the media.

A spokesman for HMRC said: "The office is due to close by the end of March next year, and all the staff have had, or will be having, one-to-one discussions with senior management about their future.

"They will have the option of applying for voluntary early severance, under the terms of the current civil service compensation scheme.

"Otherwise, for those who don't want that, the department will make efforts to redeploy staff within HMRC where posts are available or to support them to find posts within another government department if possible.

"The face-to-face contact option will remain in place, although that may be provided at another location."

January's announcement confirmed all three HMRC offices in Argyll and Bute would close by the end of the 2010-11 financial year, with the axe falling on the premises in Dunoon and Oban as well as Rothesay.