ROYAL Bank of Scotland is cutting more than 440 British jobs dealing with business loans as it shifts many of the roles to India.

The state-owned bank said it was moving the jobs, which help to handle loans for small businesses, as part of an ongoing cost-cutting drive.

But the company insists UK staff would still deal with customers and take decisions on whether to grant loans. The Unite union said British workers and taxpayers would lose out from the move.

A spokesman said: “By shipping these jobs to India, RBS will be getting that work done more cheaply at the cost of jobs and livelihoods here in the UK.”

The bank’s small business customers will also be unsettled by the decision, according to Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses. He said: “Many small business customers with RBS will be extremely concerned at the idea of local expert staff being sent packing and their roles outsourced to call centres halfway round the world.”

He added it was the “wrong way to rebuild trust” after branch closures and a mis-selling scandal that resulted in thousands of small business customers being compensated by the bank last year.

The company, which is still 73 per cent owned by the taxpayer after a £45 billion bailout in 2008, said staff in Mumbai would take over back- office roles such as background checks. But it added UK-based staff would continue to do the work that involved customer contact.

Credit decisions will also be taken in the UK, according to the bank.

A spokesman for the RBS Group said: “As we become a simpler, smaller bank, we are making some changes to the way we serve our customers. Unfortunately, these changes will result in the net reduction of 443 roles in the UK.”

RBS said it would support staff affected by the “disappointing news”.

The latest move comes just weeks after RBS said it would cut 250 IT jobs in the UK and move dozens of the roles to India.