BARCLAYS’ iconic eagle has reclaimed its place on the Poole skyline.

A new version of the historic emblem, the original of which was removed from the bank’s headquarters in 2007 after 30 years, was hoisted back to its 117ft perch atop Barclays House on Saturday.

Bankers say the decision to replace the logo with this new acrylic eagle weighing 1.5 tonnes is part of Barclay House’s continued revamp.

But while the eagle may be soaring high, spirits among some Barclays workers are rock bottom – the latest wave of redundancies were announced just days ago.

Another 110 positions will be slashed at Barclays House as part of the 1,100 losses earmarked for the Poole base by this year.

The bank dropped the bombshell in 2007, the same year the old eagle emblem was removed, that more than half the posts in Barclays House were to be shed by 2010.

In 2007, bankers denied the emblem was removed due to concerns from Dutch bank ABN Amro, then in talks with Barclays about a merger, over Nazi connotations. The bank insisted the decision to remove the logo was part of re-branding.

A Barclays spokesman said at the weekend: “We have recently refurbished the building in Poole to make it a modern and more comfortable working environment.

“We’ve invested in the building and refurbished the lifts, and the installation of the eagle is all part of an ongoing investment in the building.”

The new eagle, hoisted into position by two giant mobile cranes, will be internally lit, so it will shine out in the night sky.

A Daily Echo web poll in 2007 found 93 per cent of respondents in favour of keeping the eagle emblem.