Big banks have axed 6,000 branches in just nine years

THE biggest banks have closed more than 6,000 branches since 2015, with Barclays the worst offender, figures have revealed.

The ‘avalanche’ of closures means that more than half the sites that were open nine years ago have vanished.

In a blow to the elderly, vulnerable groups and small businesses that rely on faceto-face banking, at least 6,006 branches have closed or been earmarked for closure – a rate of more than 50 a month.

Barclays, which has 36million UK accounts, tops the list after shutting 1,199 sites, according to analysis of 20 banks and building societies by consumer group Which?

NatWest has shut 854 sites, Lloyds 747 and HSBC 743. A total of 477 Santander branches have gone, Royal Bank of Scotland has lost 453, and TSB has closed 423 branches with further 36 due to shut their doors this year.

Lenders say they are shrinking their branch networks as customers switch to online banking. But critics point out that the huge number of closures risks cutting off elderly customers and vulnerable groups from their finances.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK, said: ‘The continuing avalanche of bank branch closures means that by the end of this year there will be considerably fewer opportunities for face-to-face banking than there were even just a couple of years ago.’

Independent consumer rights expert Martyn James previously said: ‘The decimation of the branch network ...potentially leaves countless people at the mercy of policies and deals that they don’t fully understand.’