Lloyds is going on a hiring spree in India

The bank said it expected to have up to 2,500 employees in India by late 2005, up from a target of 1,500 by the end of this year.

However, it stressed that any UK workers whose jobs were moved would be redeployed within the group.

Lloyds TSB currently employs 77,000 people in the UK.

'Offshored'

"We don't anticipate redundancies either voluntarily or compulsorily," a spokeswoman said.

But staff unions were sceptical that suitable alternative jobs for affected employees would be found, and speculated that Lloyds was planning to export up to 10,000 jobs.

"This is laying the groundwork for a far larger number of staff to follow," said Steve Tatlow of the Lloyds TSB Group Union.

The news comes one day after a survey from the CBI business lobby suggested that UK firms were under increasing pressure to shift jobs to India or China in an effort to control costs.

The CBI said Britain had benefited from the transfer of jobs to low-cost countries - known as "offshoring" - through improved workforce skills and more profitable enterprises.

Shifting jobs abroad can offer huge savings to companies, and financial services firms have led the exodus from the UK.

In India, UK banks can pay graduates as little as $200 a month to work in administration and answer customer calls.