Ananova:

Workers in the North East have been dealt another blow as Newcastle Building Society confirmed it is to cut 150 jobs.

The job losses follow a drop in demand for outsourced financial services, caused most notably by the collapse of former Icelandic internet bank Icesave.

The bad news follows yesterday's announcement that carmaker Nissan is making 1,200 staff redundant at its plant in Sunderland.

Newcastle Building Society said it would not close branches as a result of the move, which it blamed on "continued unprecedented market conditions".

The redundancies will affect most areas of the business, but the majority will be in the firm's head offices in Newcastle city centre and nearby Cobalt Business Park.

Union bosses have demanded a meeting with the firm's management to clarify the implications of the cull.

Chief Executive, Colin Seccombe, said: "After creating some 200 new jobs through 2008, we are extremely disappointed to have to make these redundancies, which are a direct result of the unprecedented downturn in the financial markets that we, and most other financial institutions, are experiencing.

"Looking at the reasons for this, the lending landscape is completely unrecognisable from what it was as little as six months ago."

David Isbell of union Unite said: "Staff at Newcastle Building Society will be devastated to hear the news of 150 job cuts.

"The society owes it to their staff and their customers to ensure that they do not make knee jerk decisions at the expense of the experienced and dedicated workforce."

The announcement comes during a bruising week on the job front for the UK and Ireland.