has axed further jobs - mostly in its finance and retail operations - as part of wider cuts across the company. The bank told this publication that the wealth management side of the business was unaffected.

In total 500 job losses have been announced with 175 of the cuts coming from temporary agency staff or by not filling vacant positions.

“All affected employees have been briefed by their line manager today,” the company said. “The group's recognised unions Accord, Unite, GMB and LTU were consulted prior to this announcement and will continue to be consulted.”

Unite, one of the main trade unions for Lloyds' staff, accused the bank of "continuous salami slicing job losses" - adding to staff fears about losing their jobs.

It is the third time this year the state owned bank has made heavy job cuts. In January, the bank announced 1,000 job losses as well as 645 in May, with a large number of these cuts coming from the wealth division.

It said the latest cuts took the number of redundancies to 13,555 as part of its 2011 strategic review.