THE former boss of Northern Rock has revealed plans for more than 600 LLoyds branches - should his new company get its hands on them.

NBNK is one of the front-runners in the auction of 632 outlets being sold by Lloyds Banking Group in order to meet European competition rules.

If the takeover vehicle is successful, Gary Hoffman, the banker who was brought in to rescue Northern Rock before moving to head up NBNK last year, pledged to bring about change for the estate’s 5.5 million customers.

He said they will be able to visit their local branch as late as 9.30pm in the run-up to Christmas, with banks sharing similar opening hours to neighbouring shops.

“We’ll have local decision-making. Every other bank in the UK is arranged around products. We’ll be arranged around customers and geography,” he told The Times newspaper.

The banker, who made his name at Barclays, has also pledged to eradicate short-term annual bonuses for senior managers.

Instead of receiving pay-outs every year and rewards for their ability to sell products, branch staff would be rewarded according to the loyalty of their customers.

“Eighty-seven per cent of customers complain about hard selling by banks. They talk about being hijacked,” he said.