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Taxpayer-saved Lloyds Bank is to axe 3,000 jobs and shut 200 branches after the shock of Brexit.

The savage cuts are set to take place by next year despite the banking group more than doubling profits to £2.5billion in the first six months of this year.

The giant also confirmed plans to close around 30% of its non branch offices - about 40 sites - by the end of 2018.

The 200 branch closures are on top of another 200 announced in 2014. Names of the affected branches haven't been released.

Lloyds said the cutbacks are "driven by customers' behaviour", with a shift to online banking.

But it also came as Lloyds warned a "deceleration of growth seems likely" on the back on the vote to leave to EU.

(Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Chief executive Antonio Horta Osorio said: "These are tough decisions that we have had to take.

"We had forecast that customers would continue to go in line with the past, where branch transactions fell by 8%. They are now going down by 15% year-on-year."

The firm said it will speed up its cost-cutting plan to help offset a more testing economic environment - and a likely drop in demand for credit - caused by Britain's vote to quit the EU.

(Image: Getty)

Britain's largest retail bank announced the plans in a bid to save £400million by the end of 2017.

"Given the uncertainty, it is too early to determine the impact on our formal longer term guidance at this stage," the bank said in a statement.

"However, while the business will remain highly capital generative, it is possible that this capital generation may be somewhat lower in future years than previously guided."



Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said: “This grim news of yet more job losses and branch closures will send a shiver down the spine of Lloyds employees, who have worked hard to make the bank a success and deliver excellent customer service against a backdrop of continual uncertainty.

“There is a real danger that customer service will suffer and access to banking for numerous communities will be damaged because of this latest round of savage cuts.

(Image: PA)

“Over the coming days and weeks Unite will be in talks with Lloyds to understand the announcement in detail, pressing it for guarantees over compulsory redundancies and warning it against cutting too far too fast.

“Lloyds should be in doubt that Unite will oppose all compulsory redundancies and will be doing everything in its power to ensure that those employees who wish to continue working for the banking group do so.”

Lloyds said it no plans to do what Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC has done by potentially charging customers for having funds in their accounts.

The two banks have changed their terms and conditions to potentially charge negative interest rates.