Standard Life policyholders last night criticised the company's plan to demutualise.

The society was holding its annual meeting less than a week after it announced plans to convert to a public limited company (plc).

About 1,000 jobs are also due to be cut as part of a drive to cut costs by 20 per cent.

Hundreds of policyholders converged on the Edinburgh International Conference Centre to express their anger towards Standard Life's board of directors.

Peter Kemp, 69, said he feared for Standard Life's future if it demutualised.

He said: "If we demutualise, it becomes a company and then we are in the hands of shareholders.

"I feel it will be taken out of our hands and whether that is for good or bad, I don't know."

Hugh O'Donnell, 51, said: "Having made a complete mess of the management of funds, I find it difficult to have any confidence in the board's current proposals.

"Not only have they lost policy holders a substantial amount of money, they are now likely to lose policyholders even more money if they go ahead with the demutualisation at this time."

The society will need the support of 75 per cent of its 2.6 million with-profits policyholders if it is to press ahead with demutualisation. It hopes to put the issue to the vote in 2006.

The society said last week that it planned to convert to a plc following a strategic review into its structure, prompted by the introduc- tion of a new accounting regime.

The society has not indicated how much policyholders can expect, but commentators have estimated they could be in line for average windfalls of between £1,000 and £3,000.

People who took out a with-profits policy before March 31 will be eligible for a windfall, including those who have joined the society since 2000 and had signed a waiver preventing them from collecting a payment