A WEST Cumbrian town is to lose another high street bank as TSB announces branch closures across the country.

The TSB on Lowther Street in Whitehaven is one of 36 branches earmarked for closure by the banking giant.  

It is one of a number of banks to leave the town after Halifax closed its King Street branch in March. NatWest, HSBC and Barclays have also closed their Whitehaven branches in recent years.

TSB said its closures were due to fewer people visiting its branches, with 96 per cent of all TSB transactions now taking place outside of a branch.

The majority of closures will take place in September this year, while some are scheduled to happen in May 2025.

A TSB spokesperson said: “We have not taken the decision to close our Whitehaven branch lightly, but our customers are banking differently – with a clear shift to digital banking.

"We recognise that there will be some customers in Whitehaven who still want a face-to-face service from TSB.

"To help these customers we will open a new TSB Pod where customers will be able to access banking and cash services. The service will be based in a large retail development in nearby Workington."

TSB said customer transactions at the branch had fallen by 54 per cent between December 2019 and December 2023.