Staff morale at Bermuda's oldest department store is in tatters, an employee claimed yesterday. Up to nine Trimingham Brothers employees have been laid off and staff at the Front Street store are increasingly overburdened with work, the employee claimed.

The Trimingham's employee who wished to remain anonymous fearing her job could be in jeopardy if she was identified, rebutted Mr. Trimingham's claim that there had been no lay-offs at the store.

The woman said between six and nine staff all from administration posts had already been shown the door. Trimingham employees were shocked yesterday morning when they read Mr. Trimingham's statement denying reports that six staff had been laid off, she claimed.

"People close to retirement have been given early retirement,'' she said.

"Even long serving staff members of 15 years were let go.'' But these would not be the last, she warned. Staff were expecting more lay-offs to come. "Of course there will be more.'' Over the past year, a number of employees had "got fed up and left'', she said.

"A lot of people quit this year because they are tired of doing the work of two people for the same salary. Those who have found something else have gone.'' Others were discontented with top heavy management and conflicting orders.

"There are too many bosses,'' she claimed. "One person tells you one thing and then another tells you something else. People are fed up.'' The general feeling among employees was that Trimingham's owners had overextended their operations with subsidiary stores but were unable to sustain them, she said.

But yesterday, Mr. Trimingham clarified his earlier statement by saying some employees had been offered other jobs within the store in order to slim down departments that were overstaffed. If they refused to accept alternative jobs, they would be obliged to leave, he said. However, he had no idea what those numbers would be until next week.

He added it was simply "not true'' that staff where overburdened with work or that morale was low. If anything, staff turnover was the lowest it had been for some time.

"Our employees like the rest of Bermuda are concerned about tourism,'' he said.

Historically, the store kept its staff through downturns, but in recent years there had been an urgent need for streamlining.