Britain’s Lloyds axes further bank branches

LONDON (Reuters) – Lloyds Banking Group will close a further 28 branches in Britain this year, just two months after axing 60 outlets, in a move that has drawn criticism from employee union Unite.

Banks across the industry have made deep cuts to their branch networks in recent years, which they say are necessary to respond to growing demand for online services.

“Branch visits have been falling significantly for several years now, and this trend is continuing,” said Vim Maru, group retail director at Lloyds, in a statement.

Lloyds will close 20 Lloyds branches and 8 Halifax-branded branches between August and November this year.

Unite branded the move “inexcusable”, and said it would impact 69 full-time roles. Lloyds said it would aim to support staff impacted and move those who wanted to stay to a new role.

(Reporting by Iain Withers, Editing by Louise Heavens)