MORTGAGE bank Abbey National is considering a £19.8bn takeover proposal from Lloyds TSB which, if successful, will see about 9,000 job losses over four years.

An Abbey spokeswoman said the terms were unchanged on the previous proposal, which Lloyds TSB made last month and which had been rejected.

That proposal had gate-crashed merger talks between Abbey and Bank of Scotland.

Lloyds' proposed bid depends on Abbey recommending the offer, and also on the offer not being referred to the Competition Commission. That decision is expected by February 23.

The bank said the proposals outlined were a "firm intention to make the offer", which would give 1.5 Lloyds shares and 260p in cash for each Abbey share.

The Abbey spokeswoman said: "Our board is a responsible board, and it will meet to consider the proposals.

"However, they are on the same terms which Abbey has already rejected."

Finance union Unifi warned that thousands of jobs faced the axe under the proposed deal and called for the bid to be referred to the Competition Commission.

Under the proposal, Lloyds TSB would keep Abbey's brand and presence on the high street, and there would be no Abbey branch closures resulting from the deal for at least two years.

Then, Lloyds TSB and Abbey branches would be brought together in more than 600 places where they were within a quarter-of-a-mile of each other.

The plans would see an expected 9,000 jobs lost from the combined total staff of 100,000 over a period of four years.

The cuts would come as Lloyds TSB aimed to generate an additional contribution to profits of £950m a year, of which £900m a year was expected in 2005.

Of this, about £250m was expected to come from increased revenues, and £650m from reduced costs.

A Unifi spokesman said: "Yet again, people will be paying for shareholders' greed with their livelihoods if this goes ahead."

Lloyds deputy chief executive Mike Fairey said he hoped the job cuts would be made through voluntary redundancies. The 1996 merger, which created Lloyds TSB, saw the loss of about 11,000 jobs, but none were compulsory redundancies, he said.

He conceded that the Lloyds TSB's proposed offer had not been accepted by Abbey's board, adding: "We wouldn't discount a hostile bid but a recommended offer is preferred.