TSB plans to close nine Scottish bank branches as it shuts 70 stores across the UK next year.

The business said that it would have 220 branches left at the end of June 2022, compared to 290 today.

It will still have the country’s seventh largest branch network.

TSB said that it will mean 150 fewer roles but that all staff who work at the closing branches will be offered alternative roles at the bank.

It is two years since TSB set out a plan to scale back its branch network but the shift to digital banking has accelerated during the pandemic as customers have been stuck at home.

Nine in 10 transactions are now done online, and 90% of mortgage appointments are video calls, TSB said.

There is “no prospect of branch transactions returning to pre-Covid levels”, the bank said.

There is a Post Office or a free-to-use cash point within a mile of every branch that is set to close.

TSB chief customer officer Robin Bulloch said: “Closing branches is an incredibly difficult decision to take, but we have to respond to the changes in the way people bank and provide the right mix of services for all our customers now and into the future.”

The affected areas in Scotland are: 

Thurso: 12/14 Traill Street, Thurso, KW14 8EJ (Closing April 2022)
Stranraer: 21 Castle Street, Stranraer, DG9 7RR (Closing April 2022)
Lanark: 25 Bannatyne Street, Lanark, ML11 7JR (Closing April 2022)
Kirkintilloch: Alexandra Street, Kirkintilloch, G66 1HD ( Closing April 2022)
Fort William: 6 Tweedale High Street, Fort William, PH33 6EU (Clsoing April 2022)
Forres: 156 High Street, Forres, IV36 1NP (Closing April 2022)
Forfar: 20 East High Street, Forfar, DD8 2EG (Closing April 2022)
Ellon: 36 Bridge Street, Ellon, AB41 9AA (Closing April 2022)
Coldside: 101 Strathmartine Road, Dundee, DD3 7SG (Closing April 2022)

ShopLocalOnline.org founder, Dr Jackie Mulligan, warned of the consequences of bank closures.

“This news is yet another hammer blow to the UK high street, which is already reeling after nearly two years of pain," she said.

“The shift online is irreversible, but so, too, is the damage that a bank leaving a high street can cause for the shops that surround it.

“Local high street shops need their local communities more than ever and the gradual retreat of banks, which bring all-important footfall, poses another existential threat.”