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Lloyds confirms 9,000 job losses to aid 'digitalisation'

Lloyds Bank has confirmed it will reduce its workforce by 9,000 and close 200 branches as it aims to 'digitise' the business.

The move is also partly driven by the need to put aside £900 million to help pay compensation following the mis-selling of PPI insurance. Overall the bank is hoping to make savings of £1 billion by 2017.

The bank has reduced its workforce by about 30,000 since 2008 and the latest cuts will see staff reduced by a further 10%. The bank is partly owned by the taxpayer after the government bought a 25% stake in a financial crisis bailout.

Lloyds chief executive António Horta-Osório said the streamlining over the past three years has seen Lloyds develop into a "safe, highly efficient retail and commercial bank".

"The next phase of our strategy will use these strong foundations as a basis for meeting the rapidly-changing needs of our customers, and sets out how we will grow the business in a way that will deliver increasing and sustainable returns for our shareholders," he added.

But Unite national officer Rob MacGregor warned that job cuts of around 10% could have "unknown consequences" for the bank's customers.

"The wallets of top executives at Lloyds should not be getting fat by forcing low-paid workers onto the dole. If there are compulsory redundancies or customer service suffers then executive pay should be cut,” he added.