Jobs go in Yorkshire as Lloyds sheds 500 more posts

The bank, part-owned by the taxpayer, said the cuts were part of 15,000 reductions announced three years ago.

But the Unite union criticised the announcement, urging the bank to stop its “regular salami-slicing” of jobs every two months.

The cuts bring the number of jobs lost at Lloyds to around 30,000 since the banking crisis unfolded in 2008, said Unite.

National officer Rob MacGregor said: “We have major concerns that Lloyds seems comfortable in announcing continuous salami-slicing job losses on a bi-monthly basis which exacerbates our members’ fears and worries about their future.

“We are calling on the LBG (Lloyds Banking Group) to halt this ongoing running sore and to finally recognise that its employees are the greatest asset that this bank, and every other financial institution, has.

“There should be no more job cuts, given that LBG persists in continuing to exploit cheaper resources offshore.

“Unite questions whether LBG is living up to its own job security agreements as it would appear that an extraordinary number of colleagues are working overtime to make ends meet which, at a time of job losses, should not be happening.”

The bank said 175 of the job losses would be mitigated by the release of temporary agency staff and other measures. Of the 500, 20 are posts in Leeds and 30 in Halifax.

A statement said: “Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort. In fact, since the Strategic Review in 2011 around only a third of role reductions have led to people leaving the Group through redundancy.”