A BRANCH of Lloyds Bank in the Cotswolds is set to close later this year, it has been announced.

The Bourton-on-the-Water branch is one of 54 national Lloyds branches to close, along with 22 Halifax branches and 24 Bank of Scotland branches.

A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said: "These branch closures - previously announced in July 2016 - are in response to changing customer behaviour, and the reduced number of transactions being made in branches.

"All affected employees have been briefed, and our recognised unions were consulted in advance and will continue to be consulted throughout the process.

"Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, wherever possible, this is achieved through offering voluntary redundancy. Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort."

Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: "Lloyds Banking Group's rationale for branch closures is the claimed customer preference towards the use of technology across banking.

"However this simply doesn't ring true when it's clear that many customers still value the face to face engagement with experienced and knowledgeable bank staff."