On the same day Lloyds revealed that it is cutting a total of 1300 positions, it has also emerged that Royal bank of Scotland is axing 464 roles.

The Lloyds cuts are part of a previously announced plan to shed 15,000 jobs, saving £1.5 billion per year in operating expenditure at the 41% taxpayer-owned bank.

Union Unite says that 300 IT roles are being moved to India and another 100 axed completely. In addition, 300 facilities management employees are being outsourced to an external supplier within the UK. Nearly 500 training roles will be lost thanks to a move from face-to-face learning to a computer-based system.

In a statement, Lloyds Banking Group, says: "The Group's policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the Group. Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, it will look to achieve this by offering voluntary redundancy. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort."

Meanwhile RBS - 82% state funded - is cutting 464 positions, although this is partially offset by 150 new jobs elsewhere.

David Fleming, Unite national officer, says: "How can there be any justification for the government not intervening as these much needed jobs are lost from our struggling economy? To learn that 300 jobs are being transferred to a low wage economy adds insult to injury."