The protesters are angry at proposals by the bank to move call centre jobs from the north-east of England to India.

The bank says 750 jobs will be lost when it closes the call centre in Newcastle.

On Monday Lloyds TSB announced a 66% rise in pre-tax profits to �4.35bn.

The demonstration was the latest move in a campaign by the Lloyds TSB group union (LTU) to persuade the company to halt plans to move jobs abroad.

Alternative employment

The bank says it hopes most of the 750 people to go from Newcastle, will do so as a result of natural wastage and redeployment.

On Monday the bank unveiled a 66% rise in full-year profits to �4.35bn, although the figure was lifted by sales of overseas assets.

But union officials say the company's huge profits mean it cannot justify its claim that exporting jobs abroad is necessary for it to remain competitive.

A union spokesman said: "It is obscene to think people are losing their jobs when the bank is making this kind of money."

The company has promised to offer everyone in Newcastle alternative employment when the call centre closes.

Newcastle Central Labour MP Jim Cousins gave his support to protestors and said he would move his 40-year-old account from the bank if jobs were exported.