Lloyds Banking Group came under attack by union Unite after announcing it would cut a further 550 jobs.

The axe will affect departments including risk, retail, insurance and commercial banking.

It follows a 940 cull in January, and brings the total number of redundancies to 8,550.

The move is part of the British lender's major restructuring launched in 2011 which includes cutting 15,000 jobs by 2014.

Unite urged the bank against reducing its workforce, saying it was a short-term fix to facilitating growth.

"It's madness that the bank has so many agency workers when it's cutting so many permanent jobs," Unite national officer Dominic Hook told Sky News.

"Lloyds is looking for a period of stability and growth but it won't be achieved by continuous and damaging job cuts. The bank must put an end to mass redundancies and instead foster job security, pay workers fairly and concentrate on customer service."

Lloyds, which is 39% owned by the taxpayer, said all affected employees were briefed by their manager and unions were consulted.

The bank reported a loss for last year of £570m, down from £3.5bn in 2011, blaming a £3.5bn provision for mis-selling payment protection insurance.

The government has indicated it would sell-off its stake within months.

Related share prices
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) share price