LLOYDS Bank has announced it is closing its Brierley Hill branch.

The banking giant said that after a "careful review" the decision has been made to close the High Street branch on July 18.

A spokesman for Lloyds said: "We have made the difficult decision to close this branch because customers are using it less often.

"In addition the majority of customers are also using alternative ways to bank."

Figures released by the bank show that counters at the Brierley Hill branch were 24 per cent quieter than a year ago; 58 customers use the branch on a regular weekly basis and there were 39 per cent fewer business customers using the branch than a typical Lloyds Bank branch.

The nearest branch for Lloyds' customers will now be in Cradley Heath and Stourbridge high streets.

Brierley Hill is one of 49 branches being closed by Lloyds in a move that will see 1,230 jobs cut across its branch network and some central functions.

It is hoped affected staff can be redeployed where possible, with compulsory redundancies being a “last resort”.

The group is also creating 925 roles elsewhere in the business - as part of its pledge to invest £3 billion on technology and training staff under a new three-year strategy - and insisted the overall job losses would be 305.

A spokesman for Lloyds said: “The group’s policy is always to use natural turnover and to redeploy people wherever possible to retain their expertise and knowledge within the group.

“Since 2011, over 90 per cent of role reductions have been achieved through a combination of natural attrition, redeployment and voluntary redundancy.

“Where it is necessary for employees to leave the company, we will look to achieve this by offering voluntary redundancy.

"Compulsory redundancies will always be a last resort.”