The Clydesdale Bank said it wants to avoid compulsory redundancies

National Australia Bank has announced that it intends to shed 1,700 jobs at its Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks over the next 12 to 18 months.

Amicus spokeswoman Wendy Dunsmore said it was concerned by the "substantial number" of job losses.

A Clydesdale Bank spokesperson said it would strive to avoid compulsory cuts.

NAB aims to save �117m ($220m) a year through its reorganisation plans.

We'll be working with the union and our staff in an effort to see our role reductions being made through natural attrition and redeployment Clydesdale Bank spokesperson

About 750 jobs will fall at Glasgow-based Clydesdale, which has 217 branches.

Leeds-based Yorkshire, which has 232 branches, is expected to see about 950 job losses.

Ms Dunsmore said the union will contest any "last bank in town" branch closures.

She said: "What we're seeking from the bank is a guarantee there will be no compulsory redundancies, because we will strongly oppose any compulsory cuts for our members.

Competitive thinking

"Amicus is also deeply concerned that the bank is cutting staff numbers when trying to tackle a long hours culture that requires staff to work excessive hours and unpaid overtime."

She said the NAB's UK chief executive had said the company will try to avoid compulsory redundancies through retraining and redeployment programmes and, if necessary, voluntary severance.

The Clydesdale Bank spokesperson said it had "a good track-record" for managing its staff.

Amicus' Wendy Dunsmore vowed to fight compulsory job cuts

"We'll be working with the union and our staff in an effort to see our role reductions being made through natural attrition and redeployment," the spokesperson said.

"We'll do all we can to avoid compulsory redundancies."

Regarding the impact on customer services, Steve Reid, of the Clydesdale Bank, said customers should have "a much more seamless experience when dealing with the bank".

BBC Scotland's Business Correspondent Hayley Millar said the move was designed to enable NAB to become more competitive within the UK banking market against banks which are bigger and stronger.

She said NAB had decided to cut costs significantly and the subsequent job cuts would be "behind the scenes", with the two bank brands being run by the one operation.

NAB, which is to take a charge of �109m in its first-half results to cover the costs of the restructuring, sold its two struggling Irish banks Northern and National Irish last year.