Lloyds Bank confirm nearly sixty branch closures, including seven in the South West
Seven branches of Lloyds Bank are to shut across the South West region - as the bank moves towards online banking.
They're among 56 branches across the UK that are to close between April and October this year.
The high street giant said the closures are part of a store reduction programme due to changing customer behaviour, with a drive towards online banking.
Less than 80 staff jobs are said to be cut with many employees being redeployed to other branches.
As well as Lloyds, the group run Halifax and Bank of Scotland.
In total, 31 Lloyds, 10 Halifax and 15 Bank of Scotland branches will be shut between April and October this year.
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The independent trade union Accord said in a statement: "We fully appreciate that the demand for high street branch banking is diminishing as customers increasingly move to app-based banking but we'll be examining Lloyds Banking Group's plans to ensure that they're properly thought through and robustly evidenced.
"So far, all branch closures have been managed without compulsory redundancies and Accord expects the same outcome here.
"We'll be contacting our members who are impacted by the closures to offer support and representation."
Full list of Lloyds branches closing across the West Country:
Bristol Downend
Hayle
Bristol Hanham
Calne
Dursley
Malmesbury
Bath Oldfield Park