A SOUTHAMPTON branch of Clydesdale Bank will face the axe, it has been announced today.

The Financial Solution Centre in Mountbatten House, based in Grosvenor Square, will be one of 29 across the UK closing its doors between now and September 2015.

The centre employs around 20 staff who have this morning been left fearing for their jobs.

The owner of Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks, National Australia Bank (NAB), revealed today that they are to cut more than 1,400 jobs in the UK following a strategic review which was announced in February.

The overhaul will shrink the size of its UK operation, which has 337 branches and a 8,300-strong workforce.

Cameron Clyne, NAB chief executive, said: “In the last half-year there has been a significant downgrade in the growth prospects of the UK economy, in part reflecting the drag on its recovery from heightened weakness in the eurozone.

“The action we are taking is needed to adapt to this current economic environment in the UK, and to reposition the UK banking business to improve returns for the group over the medium term.”

The company is now starting a 90-day union consultation period.