State-backed lender Royal Bank of Scotland is axing around 600 jobs as it shuts 32 branches of NatWest.
Trade union Unite said the banking group was to announce closures across its NatWest network in the North, the Midlands, east of England and London. In addition, hundreds of branches will change their opening hours, the union said.
RBS, which remains 73% owned by the taxpayer following its state rescue at the height of the financial crisis, confirmed that jobs were to go.
The job cuts come on the same day as outgoing Treasury permanent secretary Sir Nick MacPherson told a newspaper that the Government would have to make a judgment on whether to sell its £19bn stake at a loss.
