* Says jobs to go at group operations and wholesale units
* Total of 7,000 job cuts since January out of 140,000 staff (Adds details)
LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group said on Tuesday it will cut a further 2,100 jobs, bringing the total number of job losses to about 7,000 since the group took over rival HBOS in January.
Lloyds said the jobs would go at its wholesale business and at a group level as it strips out duplicate roles following the HBOS takeover which was engineered by the British government at the height of last year's banking crisis.
The impact of the changes, which will be implemented over the next three years, would be mitigated by the creation of 350 new roles in the wholesale division, the bank said.
It also hopes that 700 of the job cuts will be achieved through natural attrition and dispensing with the services of some agency staff.
Financial services companies worldwide have slashed jobs since the start of the credit crisis.
Lloyds' takeover of HBOS rescued its rival and created a company with 140,000 employees but the deal has left the combined group saddled with bad loans that resulted in a 10 billion pounds ($16.5 billion) loss in 2008.
Lloyds announced earlier this month the closure of all branches at its Cheltenham & Gloucester mortgage business, resulting in the loss of up to 1,660 full-time jobs.
The bank said on Tuesday that it was bringing together its Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland wholesale business in England and Wales.
The Unite trade union said it was astonished at the scale of the new job losses given that the government owns a 43.4 percent stake following a bailout of Britain's banking system.
"This loss of over 2,000 jobs marks the largest single job loss announcement since the formation of the Lloyds Banking Group in January," said Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer.
"As a taxpayer supported organisation, real questions need to be asked as to how far this bank can be allowed to go in this systematic slashing of staff," he added.
Lloyds added in a statement it would not offshore any further operational roles.
(Reporting by Lorraine Turner and Kate Kelland, editing by Paul Hoskins)