By Aashika Jain
May 21 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group Plc said itwould cut 645 jobs as part of a group strategic review announcedin 2011, and add 65 new positions in its groups operations andretail unit.
Lloyds, which is 25 percent-owned by the government, saidthe reductions are within its group operations, human resources,consumer finance, retail and commercial banking units.
Its recognised unions, Accord, Unite, GMB and LTU wereconsulted prior to the announcement.
Lloyds also said it was shutting its Warrington ContactCentre as people preferred digital banking to telephone banking.
"Telephone banking call volumes are falling as digitalbanking usage continues to grow, and we are refocusing thebusiness to reflect these changes in our customers' habits, aspokeswoman of Lloyds said on Wednesday.
As part of its Warrington operations being axed, Llyodswould make 180 redundancies and transfer 120 staff to Speke, inLiverpool.
(Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bangalore. Editing by AndreGrenon)