Eighty-five jobs are to go at the part-nationalised banking giant Lloyds Banking Group in Brighton and Hove by the end of 2012. The job losses are part of a restructuring exercise by the bank, which is 41% owned by the government.

The equivalent of 20 jobs are to go when the bank closes its IT operation at Quest House in Queen s Road, Brighton.

Meanwhile, 65 fulltime jobs will be lost through efficiencies at the group operations division at City Park in Hove. The bank employs about 1,600 people across three main sites Queen s Road, Sussex House in Gloucester Place, Brighton, and City Park.

The Argus revealed in June the bank was axing 150 jobs in the city.

Mark Fisher, director of group operations at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Today marks another major step in bringing our businesses together. The changes we are putting in place will give us a world-class IT operation that will benefit our customers and our other stakeholders. We will work closely with the colleagues affected to help them through these changes. We have mitigated the impact on permanent staff with a significant release of temporary and contract staff.”

Steve Tatlow, assistant general secretary of Lloyds Trade Union, said: “This is another major blow to jobs in the Brighton and Hove area. From being a major employer in Sussex just a couple of years ago, Lloyds is rapidly scaling back the number of staff it employs locally.”

Hove MP Mike Weatherley said: “I was extremely disappointed when I heard that 65 jobs are to be cut by Lloyds in Hove. The public is currently looking to banks to get the economy moving and the cutting of jobs may well be seen as a retrograde step.”

Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas said: “It’s always very sad to hear of people being made redundant, and when the country’s barely recovering from recession it underlines the need for the Government to keep investing and keep creating meaningful jobs.”