LONDON (AP) - Bonuses at London's banks will plunge nearly 60 percent this year, a leading economic consultancy predicted yesterday, as Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown demands punishment for irresponsible bankers.

Brown said he is angry at the risky behaviour of some in the financial sector and pledged to end the era of huge bonuses for executives - hinting the government will tighten its grip on the country's finance sector after agreeing to partly nationalise major banks.

"I am angry at irresponsible behaviour," Brown told Britain's GMTV television. "Our economy is built around people who work hard, who show effort, who take responsible decisions, and where there is excessive and irresponsible risk-taking, that has got to be punished."

"The days of big bonuses are over," he added.

With Brown promising to stop banks from handing out big bonuses and Britain's banking sector suffering from near financial meltdown as a result of the credit crunch, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted yesterday that the total amount of bonus money paid out in London's financial district this year would fall to just £3.6 billion ($6.2 billion) - down 58 percent from last year's £8.5 billion ($11.61 billion) bonanza.

The group also predicted that bonuses will fall to just £2.8 billion ($4.8 billion) in 2009 - a drop of 70 percent from the 2006 peak of £8.8 billion ($12.02 billion).

"With shareholders - likely to include the government in some cases - and the FSA (Financial Services Authority) breathing down employers' necks...it is unlikely we will see bonuses paid on the scale of the past four years in the foreseeable future," said Richard Snook, CEBR's senior economist. "It is not clear whether City firms will wish to, or be legally allowed to, pay out bonuses this year."

Brown and Treasury chief Alistair Darling on Wednesday announced a £50 billion ($88 billion) plan to partly nationalise major banks and promised to guarantee a further £250 billion ($438 billion) of bank loans to shore up the lending sector.

Following weeks of talks with banks and regulators, the rescue deal was agreed late on Tuesday as Mr. Darling shared an Indian meal with a group of ministers and banking executives at his official London residence.

In addition to the government plan, the Bank of England made at least £200 billion ($350 billion) in short-term loans available to banks to help restore liquidity to the frozen credit market.

Treasury officials yesterday discussed details of the rescue scheme with at least eight British financial institutions, including HBOS plc., Barclays plc. and Royal Bank of Scotland plc.

But Brown said that, in return for the government's support, the financial sector must reform - and stop paying big bonuses.

"One of the conditions of us helping the banks is that we will have to reach an agreement about their executive remuneration," said Brown.

Wealthy bankers will not be the only ones who feel the bonus squeeze. Because bankers invest their massive pay-offs in the general economy, the drop will have significant trickle-down effects throughout London on everything from restaurants and car dealerships to housing prices.

The chic London sushi restaurant Ubon, which was located next to the London headquarters of collapsed American bank Lehman Brothers, shut down at the end of September after eight years in business. New registrations of Porsches are already down 27 percent and of Aston Martins by 25 percent compared to last year, according to the consultancy's report.