A major banking group has announced it will close 136 high street branches in a massive blow for customers.
Lloyds Banking Group has said it plans to axes sites from its Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands.
The finance giant will shut 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax and 14 Bank of Scotland branches between May this year and March 2026.
The closure plan is being announced a few weeks after Lloyds Banking Group made changes to its branch operations, allowing customers of Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland to conduct their in-person banking at any of the stores under these brands. This move aims to enhance convenience and accessibility for customers seeking traditional banking services.
Lloyds blamed the decision to shut the branches on customers shifting away from banking in person to using mobile services.
It said that all workers at the affected branches will be offered jobs elsewhere in the company.
A spokesperson for the company emphasized the increasing trend of customers utilizing their mobile banking apps, with over 20 million users now relying on these platforms for instant access to their funds. The evolving customer preferences highlight the importance of providing diverse options and flexibility in everyday banking operations.
In addition to the mobile apps, customers have a range of alternatives such as telephone banking, interactions with community bankers, and access to branches of Halifax, Lloyds, or Bank of Scotland. This extensive network of physical locations enables customers to choose from a wider array of branches, ensuring greater accessibility and convenience for their banking needs.
Lloyds Banking Group has taken the decision to close 136 of its high street branches
Halifax is another one of the brands due to reduce its number of brick and mortar stores, with 61 ear-marked to shut between May this year and March 2026
‘Customers can also do their everyday banking at over 11,000 branches of the Post Office or in a Banking Hub.’
Banks and building societies have closed 6,214 branches since January 2015, at a rate of around 53 each month, according to consumer champion Which?
Meanwhile in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal, the Post Office plans to close 115 branches – leaving many communities with no bricks-and-mortar site to access their money or discuss financial issues.
Last month, Lloyds unveiled plans to scrap 101 of its high street branches in 2025.
While many Britons now use their bank’s apps or telephone banking to manage their cash, there remains a large populations who are unable to do so.
According to Age UK, only 14 per cent of those aged 85 and old bank online, with 58 per cent relying on face-to-face banking.
The wave of branch closures have triggered fears that elderly, isolated Brits will be hit hardest.
Speaking about the closures set to take place this year, a spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said: ‘Mobile banking is more popular than ever, with over 19.5 million customers choosing our app to manage, maximise and understand more about their money.
Meanwhile the Bank of Scotland will close 14 of its branches over the same period
‘Alongside our app, customers can bank online, over the phone, at a Banking Hub, a Post Office or by speaking to one of our Community Bankers.’
NatWest Group, which comprises NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, has closed 1,428 branches since January 2015 – the most of any banking group, Which? research revealed.
Lloyds Banking Group was hot on NatWest Group’s heels though, shuttering 1,243 locations over the same period.
Which? also reported that Barclays is the individual bank that has most dramatically decreased its branch numbers, with 1,228 branches now closed over the last nine years.
In May this year Which? said that by the end of 2024 there will be 33 parliamentary constituencies without a single bank branch.
While the rate of closures had initially appeared to slow down since it reached a peak in 2017, the researchers said that in ‘recent years there has been a troubling surge’.
During the pandemic, with Britain at a standstill, branch closures dropped to only 369 in a single year, but that number was outstripped within the first three months of 2021.
Bank bosses were accused of ‘engaging in a race to close branches’ after a new regulatory regime came into effect in September 2024 when the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced measures to ensure the ‘reasonable provision of cash deposit and withdrawal services.’
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said: ‘This milestone of more than 6,000 bank branch closures in just nine years underscores the seismic shift that has taken place in terms of our banking habits and the character of the British high street.
Latest Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland branch closures for 2025
 Lloyds
- Alcester – Stratford Road, England, B49 5AX – June 25, 2025
- Alnwick – 24 Bondgate Within, England, NE66 1TD – January 15, 2025
- Ashbourne – Compton, England, DE6 1DY – June 24, 2025
- Beccles – Exchange Square, England, NR34 9HH – May 6, 2025
- Bletchley – 87-89 Queensway, England, MK2 2DW – March 3, 2025
- Blyth – 43 Waterloo Road, England, NE24 1BW – March 4, 2025
- Brecon – 38 High Street, Wales, LD3 7AR – February 11, 2025
- Brynmawr – 72 King Street, Wales, NP23 4XR – February 18, 2025
- Cranbrook – Woodside High Street, England, TN17 3DJ – February 11, 2025
- Chesham – 79 High Street, England, HP5 1BT – February 24, 2025
- Derby – 812 Osmaston Road Allenton, England, DE24 9AA – January 23, 2025
- Dewsbury – 20 Market Place, England, WF13 1DF – March 10, 2025
- Fakenham – 27 Norwich Street, England, NR21 9AH – May 6, 2025
- Gorleston-on-Sea – 132-133 High Street, England, NR31 6QU – January 20, 2025
- Hitchin – 1 Bancroft, England, SG5 1JQ – April 7, 2025
- Hull – 63-67 Newland Avenue, England, HU5 3BG – January 14, 2025
- Kendal – 11 Finkle Street, England, LA9 4AG – February 10, 2025
- Kenilworth – 21 The Square, England, CV8 1EE – February 25, 2025
- Kitts Green – 131 Lea Village, England, B33 9SH – January 27, 2025
- Leeds – 391-393 Harehills Lane, England, LS9 6AP – January 8, 2025
- Leeds – 52 Town Street Armley, England, LS12 3AE – September 8, 2025
- Liskeard – The Parade, England, PL14 6AW – February 25, 2025
- London – 185 Baker Street, England, NW1 6XB – January 6, 2025
- Macclesfield – 64-66 Mill Street, England, SK11 6NH – January 28, 2025
- Matlock – 11 Causeway Lane, England, DE4 3AR – May 7, 2025
- Monmouth – 18 Monnow Street, Wales, NP25 3XH – May 8, 2025
- New Milton – 47 Station Road, England, BH25 6HU – May 13, 2025
- Presteigne – 52 Hereford Street, Wales, LD8 2AU – March 3, 2025
- Sheffield – 15 Stubbin Lane, England, S5 6QG – June 26, 2025
- Sherborne – 75 Cheap Street, England, DT9 3BD – January 16, 2025
- Southampton – 77 Shirley High Street Shirley, England, SO15 3TX – January 28, 2025
- Southampton – 413 Bitterne Road Bitterne, England, SO18 1DA – June 9, 2025
- South Elmsall – 139-141 Barnsley Road, England, WF9 2AA – January 16, 2025
- Spennymoor – 43 Cheapside, England, DL16 6QF – June 26, 2025
- Stanley – 65 Front Street, England, DH9 0SZ – June 26, 2025
- St Ives – 1 The Pavement, England, PE27 5AE – February 24, 2025
- Stow-on-the-Wold – The Square, England, GL54 1BJ – February 17, 2025
- Surbiton – 1 Claremont Road, England, KT6 4QS – March 4, 2025
- Swindon – 5 High Street, England, SN1 3EN – February 3, 2025
- Thetford – 35 King Street, England, IP24 2AX – May 13, 2025
- Wadebridge – 14 Molesworth Street, England, PL27 7DE – February 17, 2025
- Warwick – 12 Swan Street, England, CV34 4BJ – June 24, 2025
- Wetherby – 55 Market Place, England, LS22 6LN – January 13, 2025
- Wisbech – 3 North Brink, England, PE13 1JT – January 22, 2025
- Woodbridge – 8 The Thoroughfare, England, IP12 1AF – June 25, 2025
Halifax
- Acomb – 73 York Road, YO24 4LL – January 13, 2025
- Alnwick – 26 Bondgate Within, NE66 1TD – January 15, 2025
- Belfast – 17-18 Connswater Shopping Centre, BT5 5LP – February 10, 2025
- Belfast – Castle Court, Royal Avenue, BT1 1DD – February 4, 2025
- Bulwell – 8 Commercial Road, NG6 8HA – January 21, 2025
- Burgess Hill – 11 Church Road, RH15 9BB – February 11, 2025
- Camberley – 20/22 High Street, GU15 3TG – March 11, 2025
- Chippenham – 49 Market Place, SN15 3HU – April 15, 2025
- Didcot – 7 Orchard Street, OX11 7LG – March 10, 2025
- Eccles – 92-94 Church Street, M30 0DA – January 7, 2025
- Gillingham – 97-101 High Street, ME7 1BL – February 10, 2025
- Gosport – 60/61 High Street, PO12 1DR – March 12, 2025
- Kendal – 21/23 Highgate, LA9 4DA – February 10, 2025
- Keynsham – 53 High Street, BS31 1DS – January 14, 2025
- Littlehampton – 68 High Street, BN17 5EA – June 23, 2025
- Liverpool – 642 Prescot Road, Old Swan, L13 5YS – January 8, 2025
- London – 200 Edgware Road, W2 2DW – January 6, 2025
- Malton – 8 Wheelgate, YO17 7HP – April 8, 2025
- Monmouth – 7/11 Monnow Street, NP25 3EF – January 23, 2025
- Morecambe – 6 Royalty Mall, Arndale Centre, LA4 5DS – January 7, 2025
- Newbury – 16 Northbrook Street, RG14 1DJ – April 16, 2025
- Northallerton – 91 High Street, DL7 8QT – April 28, 2025
- North Shields – 100 Bedford Street, NE29 6DD – January 28, 2025
- Oswestry – 6 Bailey Street, SY11 1PS – April 28, 2025
- Palmers Green – 256/258 Green Lanes, N13 5TU – January 9, 2025
- Port Talbot – 58 Station Road, SA13 1RD – January 29, 2025
- Runcorn – 35 Orchard Walk, Halton Lea, WA7 2BS – April 29, 2025
- Shirley – 177B Stratford Road, B90 3AQ – January 9, 2025
- Southampton – 400/402 Bitterne Road, Bitterne, SO18 5RS – June 9, 2025
- Stratford-upon-Avon – 28 Bridge Street, CV37 6AD – January 22, 2025
- Stoke-on-Trent – 24 Market Street, Longton, ST3 1BG – January 8, 2025
- Sutton-in-Ashfield – 32 Low Street, NG17 1DG – January 16, 2025
- Tamworth – 22 Market Street, B79 7LR – April 29, 2025
- Telford – Duke Street, Wellington, TF1 1BJ – January 7, 2025
- Thetford – 4/4A King Street, IP24 2AP – February 4, 2025
- Tonbridge – 39 High Street, TN9 1SQ – January 9, 2025
- Walton-on-Thames – 3 High Street, KT12 1EA – January 27, 2025
- Whitby – 67 Baxtergate, YO21 1HB – January 14, 2025
- Winchester – 129 High Street, SO23 9AX – January 20, 2025
- Wisbech – 28 Market Place, PE13 1DQ – January 22, 2025
- Witney – 29 High Street, OX28 6XP – April 30, 2025
Bank of Scotland
- Banff – 29 Low Street, AB45 1AU – May 8, 2025
- Bathgate – 50 Hopetoun Street, EH48 4EU – June 30, 2025
- Cowdenbeath – 349-351 High Street, KY4 9QJ – June 24, 2025
- Dunfermline – 1 Bothwell Street, KY11 3AG – January 21, 2025
- Golspie – Main Street, KW10 6RJ – February 4, 2025
- Kirkcaldy – Carberry Road, KY1 3PA – January 21, 2025
- Kyle – Main Street, IV40 8AB – January 27, 2025
- Langholm – High Street, DG13 0JH – April 7, 2025
- Leven – 60 High Street, KY8 4NA – May 7, 2025
- Linlithgow – Regent Centre, Blackness Road, EH49 7HU – February 18, 2025
- Montrose – 31 High Street, DD10 8LT – March 10, 2025
- Newton Stewart – 37 Albert Street, DG8 6EF – June 23, 2025
- North Berwick – 23 Westgate, EH39 4AG – February 19, 2025
- Rothesay – 36-42 Montague Street, PA20 0BT – June 30, 2025
- Wick – 18 Bridge Street, KW1 4NG – June 25, 2025
