Online retailer Amazon said on Wednesday it would open a customer support center in Edinburgh to provide technical support for its market-leading Kindle device, creating 500 permanent and 400 temporary jobs.

U.S.-based Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, said the operation will also handle customer inquiries as it expands its product range. It will open in August, a few months before Amazon's new fulfillment center in Dunfermline, Scotland.

Some 950 new jobs at the fulfillment center and also at Gourock, Scotland, were announced in January.

Allan Lyall, vice president of European operations and customer service, said: As our business continues to grow and we move into new areas like grocery, sports and clothing, our customer services support needs to expand as well.

Amazon introduced the Kindle electronic reader in 2007, and the company said earlier this month it was now selling more electronic books than print books.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Matt Scuffham)