How many cheltenham and gloucester branches are there

The sudden move prompted speculation that Lloyds was trying to head off a move by the EU, which the bank had already warned could demand drastic sell-offs of parts of its operations to counter concerns about anti-competitiveness. The Unite union attacked the decision as "nothing short of disgraceful". Unite also said today staff at RBS have been told that they are at risk of redundancy as part of an existing job cut programme.

McFall was particularly furious the job cuts had been leaked, leaving the bank scrambling this morning to inform staff of the plan drawn up by Helen Weir, who is responsible for retail banking. Intelligent Finance, a brand launched to much fanfare by HBOS at the height of the dotcom boom, is to be closed to new mortgage business.

Lloyds said compulsory redundancies would be "a last resort". Weir said: "We will work through these changes carefully and sensitively and continue to consult closely with our unions throughout. For the first time, Bank of Scotland will start to sell its own-brand mortgages in its branches, rather than those of the Halifax, the country's biggest mortgage lender.

This is truly a dark day for the financial services sector in this country. Shares in Lloyds plunged by a third on 20 May after the bank warned shareholders that it may be forced to slim down its business to win state aid approval from the commission. Lloyds launched its takeover of HBOS last autumn after the government said it would waive competition rules that would otherwise have made the deal impossible.

This article is more than 12 years old. Closure of branches would put 1, jobs at risk Union attacks reported move as 'nothing short of disgraceful'. Photograph: Frank Baron.