Employment: Bank confirms job losses a day after saying 'no change'

RBS announced last week that it was closing 14 of the 27 offices in its Churchill and Direct Line businesses under existing plans to cut 2,000 jobs from the insurance division.

An RBS spokesman said on Thursday that its four Yorkshire offices – three in Leeds and one in Doncaster – would become core sites in the division.

"There's no change in Yorkshire," he said.

But RBS said yesterday that it plans to shut its claims operation in Doncaster with the loss of 148 jobs.

The spokesman said there would be opportunities for affected staff elsewhere in that office or in Leeds, but he could not guarantee that everyone would be able to find new roles.

"One hundred and forty-eight roles will cease to exist," he said.

"That does not mean 148 people are losing their jobs because there will be jobs created. Nothing is going to happen before the end of the year."

He said Thursday's announcement was about the division's building and property strategy, rather than jobs, and he "did not have any of the detail" about the roles being lost in Doncaster at the time.

RBS – which is 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer – has announced its intentions to shut the offices over the next three years, with some closing as soon as the fourth quarter of this year.

The European Commission said RBS must sell its insurance division as well as 318 branches to offset competition concerns following its Government bail-out.

The RBS spokesman said the four Yorkshire offices – which currently employ 3,666 people – would be designated as centres of excellence.