The head of one of the UK's leading call centres has quit following serious allegations of harassment.

Charles Breslin, managing director of beCogent, which employs 1800 across central Scotland, offered his resignation on Thursday after being summoned to a meeting with chairman Dermot Jenkinson.

A grievance against Mr Breslin, who joined the Airdrie-based company two years ago after a career in banking, had been submitted that morning.

Although staff have claimed there had been a number of alleged grievances as a result of the managing director's conduct, sources close to the management insist just one had been made formally.

The source said: "Mr Breslin decided he'd go himself but you can speculate what would happen had he not. It was a serious enough grievance for this to all happen so quickly."

Last night, the company refused to comment on the nature of the allegations made against the former managing director.

A spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that, on Thursday, Charles Breslin resigned with immediate effect."

The company's website claims Mr Breslin "has worked with a number of the leading financial institutions in the UK and has picked up two major awards in the financial innovations category".

It adds: "A qualified banker, Charles has written a number of published articles on employee engagement and delivering world-class customer service."

Since being founded in 1999, beCogent became one of the UK's top 10 providers of outsourced contact-centre services.

It is the biggest employer in Lanarkshire and has two other contact centres in Kilmarnock and Erskine, with an annual turnover of £28m.

Mr Breslin, who comes from Coatbridge, was not available for comment last night.