A total of 20 branches in England and Scotland will close

The Northern Rock plans to open a further 10 flagship branches in key cities where the bank has no presence.

The move will leave the bank - which announced on Thursday it expected pre-tax profits of up to �378.7m - with 84 sales outlets across the UK.

Northern Rock said it expected no compulsory redundancies among the 150 people affected by the move, which will cost around �5.5m.

But the UNIFI union said consumers as well as staff will be hit by the closures.

Most of the branch staff are female, they have caring responsibilities in their own communities, and many work part time Gwyn Bates, UNIFI

UNIFI official Gwyn Bates said: "Every single branch on this hitlist is needed by the local communities it serves.

"Northern Rock's branches are busy and popular with customers but because the bank now need to impress the stock exchange they are making decisions based on profit not people.

"It's not only the staff and their families who will be the losers in this, its also the customers and local communities as well.

Fourteen branches will close in Northumberland and Newcastle, and one each in Stirling, Falkirk, Romford, Ilford, Manchester and Workington.

But offices in Gosforth, in Newcastle, are being expanded, along with another at Doxford Park in Sunderland.

'No redundancies'

David Baker, from Northern Rock, said: "All the staff in the branches will not be given redundancies at all, they will be offered jobs in Gosforth or in Doxford."

Mr Baker said the closures were in response to consumer demand.

He added that expansion in Gosforth and Doxford would create up to 1,900 new jobs over the next five years.

But Ms Bates said: "While I fully appreciate the organisation are going to offer all individuals jobs in other centres, it will just not be practical for some of them.

"Most of the branch staff are female, they have caring responsibilities in their own communities, and many work part-time.

"A lot of them will not want to up sticks and move to Gosforth or Doxford, so there will be redundancies."

Mr Baker said the branches would be closed over a two-month period from the end of November.