RBS, which is 73-percent state-owned, is in the midst of a major restructuring that includes reducing the size of its retail network as part of an aggressive cost-cutting programme.

The latest job losses mean RBS will have eliminated more than one in 10 positions at its UK branch network in the past two months at a time the country's third-largest lender is faltering in its aim to be ranked best for customer service.

RBS has cut about 1,350 positions out of a workforce of 12,000 people in its branch network since mid-March and has closed more branches than any other British lender in the past two years.

The employees affected by the latest cuts work in Scotland, Wales or southwest England, according to the people close to the process.

"This is nothing short of a year-long cull of local branches across the country," said Rob MacGregor, national officer at the Unite union.

"RBS seem to be sending a message that properly staffed branch services are only for the privileged." The bank, which was rescued with a 45.5 billion pound taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis, is also cutting a further 20 branches, the sources said, taking the total to 52 closures so far this year.

"We review our branch network regularly to make sure the services we provide are appropriate for each local community, based on customer usage and other ways to bank in the local area," a spokesman for RBS said.RBS came bottom of more than 30 lenders for customer satisfaction in a poll this year by Britain's largest consumer body Which?, despite pledges to improve its reputation after going bust during the global financial crisis.Customers also voted RBS the worst British bank for a second year in a row in separate survey by the price comparison website uSwitch in September, with consumers putting it last for customer trust and value for money.At its annual shareholder meeting in Edinburgh last week, Chief Executive Ross McEwan justified the closure of more branches saying they were expensive and being used less as more people banked online. McEwan said the number of people going into branches had dropped by half on average since 2010, while the number of people making transactions online had jumped fourfold"The use of transactions at counters is a bygone day in most cases," he told the meeting. "Unfortunately, that is the harsh reality that we have to live with."

(Editing by David Clarke)

By Andrew MacAskill