Britain's Lloyds to cut further 625 banking jobs

* To cut 625 posts at its wholesale division

* Follows 1,290 job cuts announced in April

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Britain's Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it planned to cut 625 full-time jobs in Britain as part of a restructuring of its wholesale division.

The layoffs come on top of 985 job losses at its motor finance unit -- also within the wholesale division -- announced in April and 305 cuts as part of the merger of its Scottish Widows and Clerical Medical insurance units.

"Our objective is to create one industry-leading wholesale bank for the group," the company said. "We will seek to make these changes by using natural turnover and redeployment wherever possible."

More than 300 new jobs had already been identified within the wholesale division and those facing redundancy would be considered for the new roles, the bank said.

Rob MacGregor, national officer for Unite, said the trade union was furious.

"This latest decision to announce 625 job losses appears to suggest that the bank is embarking on a strategy of 'death by a thousands cuts'," MacGregor said. (Reporting by Paul Hoskins and Lorraine Turner; Editing by David Holmes)