BARCLAYS Bank yesterday refused to be drawn on reports that it would

announce a further 3000 job losses this week, in addition to the 15,000

staff it is already in the process of shedding.

The rumoured cuts come in the wake of 3500 redundancies at the Royal

Bank of Scotland, announced last week.

Meanwhile, the Banking Insurance and Finance Union (Bifu) predicted a

further 25,000 jobs were at risk in the financial sector, on top of the

70,000 redundancies in the past three years.

About half Barclays' existing job-cutting programme will be completed

this year with the remaining redundancies coming into effect by 1995.

So far, all have been through natural wastage and voluntary

redundancy.

The bank's network of 2400 branches is being cut at the rate of 150 a

year until around 1900 remain by 1995.

Barclays chief executive, Mr Andrew Buxton, warned earlier this month

that a ''significantly'' faster rate of branch closures would lead to

further job cuts.

A spokesman for Barclays yesterday refused to comment on the rumoured

cuts, but said: ''The closure of branches does not mean we are

abandoning the High Street. It is a major part of our activities.''

In August, chairman Sir John Quinton warned that the recession could

last a further two years as Barclays revealed the slump had cost it more

than #1000m in bad debt provision -- particularly against property.

The bank made profits before tax of just #51m in the half-year to

June, in sharp contrast to #378m in the comparative period in 1991.

Bifu spokesman Mr Noel Howell said yesterday: ''There is a job carnage

going on in the High Street -- and the finance sector was supposed to

replace jobs lost in manufacturing in the 1980s.''

Labour yesterday stepped up its demand for urgent Government action

over unemployment amid the rumours about Barclays.

Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown said that there must now be a summit of

Government departments to examine emergency job schemes.

He said in a statement: ''As Britain braces itself for yet another

round of mounting job losses and worrying trade deficit figures out

tomorrow, it is time for the Prime Minister to act with a new emergency

jobs programme. That should be set in place before Christmas.

''I understand that more banking jobs are at risk tomorrow. The

alarming scale of this new wave of redundancies is something Ministers

must now wake up to and has already cost 40,000 jobs this month and

threatens 250,000 more over the winter months.''