"The Labour government cannot afford to turn the other way as bank workers across the country are losing their jobs"

Lloyds have announced over 2000 job cuts today - and its another hammer blow for hard pressed finance workers.

Unite was told that cuts will affect the firm's commercial and group operations, hitting offices across the country.

Unite National Officer for the finance sector Rob MacGregor said: "As a taxpayer-supported organisation, real questions need to be asked as to how far this bank can be allowed to go in this systematic slashing of staff. This loss of over 2,000 jobs marks the largest single job loss announcement since the formation of LBG in January".

Rob went onto say that "Morale is now truly low. Employees across Lloyds are in a permanent state of anxiety, as they see their employer announce hundreds of job losses every week.

"This Labour government cannot afford to turn the other way as bank workers across the country are losing their jobs. This horrendous news brings the total of job losses since January in Lloyds Banking Group to over 7,000.

"The thousands of staff in the commercial and group operations areas who are hit by this announcement will be seeking a commitment from the bank that there will be no compulsory redundancies."

Lloyds said the changes followed "careful and detailed reviews" of the group's operations and wholesale divisions, which will bring together a number of functions across the Lloyds TSB and HBOS areas.