MINISTERS must act to halt job losses in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, the TUC said yesterday as Lloyds Banking Group announced that a further 3,000 posts are to go.

The troubled bank had already planned to axe 9,000 jobs, but it upped the figure to 12,000 yesterday and doubled branch closures, with 200 to close. Bosses blamed the decision on the likelihood of interest rates being held down for longer due to post-Brexit economic uncertainty.

Banking union Accord general secretary Ged Nichols said: “The loyal, dedicated and customer-focused employees in the Lloyds Banking Group are still reeling from recent job losses.

“They will be bewildered by today’s news and wonder what has happened that is so catastrophic that these further job cuts and branch closures are necessary. Interest rates may be lower for longer, but why are job losses higher and faster?”

Unite, which also represents staff at Lloyds, said the development marked “a further body blow to the UK economy” as well as uncertainty for workers under threat.

“These are permanent jobs that are being lost,” Unite national officer Rob McGregor said. “As a country, we can’t afford to lose these jobs in a challenging post-Brexit world.

“Unite will not tolerate enforced redundancies and will hold Lloyds to the commitments they have given.”

The state took a 43 per cent stake in Lloyds in 2009, but the group was largely reprivatised in a series of stock market flotations under George Osborne’s chancellorship. However, the state retains an almost 10 per cent stake.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The growing expectation since the Brexit vote of an economic slowdown seems to be a factor. The government needs to act now to secure jobs and investment before thousands of working people pay the price of Brexit with the loss of their job.

“The government must assure businesses that where the Brexit vote is leading to urgent challenges that put jobs at risk, they will step in to help. And ministers must commit to working closely with employers and trade unions on an approach to Brexit negotiations that does what’s needed to keep jobs in the UK.”

A third union at the bank, the non-TUC-affiliated Lloyds Trade Union, was not available for comment.