Todmorden's Yorkshire Bank branch to be axed

It is anticipated that as many as 200 jobs will be lost as a result of the move.

The closures are part of a wider raft of changes from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank group which will see as many as a third of its branches shut.

Four branches in Leeds and two in Sheffield will close, alongside ones in Bradford, Hull, Filey, Goole, Knottingley, Normanton, Ossett, Pickering, Richmond, Ripon, Todmordon and Wath-upon-Dearne.

The bank said in a statement that the number of customers using their bank for day-to-day transactions across the banking industry in the UK has fallen by a third since 2011.

It said this ongoing decline in branch usage, which was married to a sharp and sustained increase in online banking, has driven a shift in its priorities as a business.

Gavin Opperman, customer banking director for Yorkshire Bank, said: “While the decision to close any branch is never an easy one, it is important that we, in line with other banks operating in the UK market, continue to respond to changes in the way customers want to bank with us.”

But Rob MacGregor, national officer for the Unite union, said the move would mean less choice for local banking for customers.

He said: “The union has called on the bank to give a commitment to mitigate compulsory redundancies where possible and that they will reconsider closing any bank branches that are the last bank in a town.”