More than 150 people employed at the Royal Bank of Scotland will be made redundant after it announced dozens of branch closures.

The banking giant will close a total of 62 branches across Scotland, which it says will cost 158 jobs.

A leading trade union called the move "institutional financial vandalism" and said it will "devastate local communities with bank closures and destroy hundreds of quality jobs".

RBS said it will seek to handle the redundancies on a voluntary basis and added that the decision was the result of the rise in online and mobile banking.

Among the branches expected to shut by mid-2018 are Aberdeen Bridge of Don, Inverness Queensgate, Dundee Stobswell, Perth South Street, and Glasgow Business Centre.

There will also be a raft of closures in the Highlands, the Borders, the Lothians, Lanarkshire, Argyll and Bute and Ayrshire.

It follows the announcement in March this year that 30 RBS branches would be shut.

The Scottish Government has expressed concern that the move will impact on the most vulnerable in society, who are more likely to rely on local branches, particularly in rural areas.

Across the rest of the UK, an additional 197 NatWest outlets will be affected by the decision, bringing the combined number of branches affected across RBS and NatWest to 259.

As many as 1000 jobs could be affected across Britain in total, but the company hopes to limit this number to 680 by redeploying staff.