AROUND 1,700 jobs are to go at Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks, it was announced today.

The Leeds-based Yorkshire Bank has 232 branches, including ones in Huddersfield, Holmfirth, Brighouse, Elland and Cleckheaton. Clydesdale Bank, based in Glasgow, has 217 branches.

Together, Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks employ about 10,300 people in the UK and the job losses will take place over the next 12 to 18 months.

The banks' owner, National Australia Bank (NAB), said the cuts were needed to make its UK operations "more nimble and customer-focused".

NAB did not give a breakdown of where the jobs will be lost, but said it had already identified 400 posts to go.

Some of the 1,700 positions would be accounted for by normal staff turnover and redeployment. The job cuts were expected to bring annual savings of £117m.