Yorkshire Bank to close 39 branches including Ossett, Normanton and Knottingley

Branches in Bradford, Hull, Filey, Goole, Knottingley, those in Leeds city centre, Headingley, Chapel Allerton and Woodsley, Normanton, Ossett, Pickering, Richmond, Ripon, Todmordon, Wath-upon-Dearne and two in Sheffield will shut by the year’s end.

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

The bank said in a statement released late this evening 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.

This ongoing decline in branch usage, married to a sharp and sustained increase in digital and mobile engagement, has driven a shift to providing greater access to day-to-day banking services remotely, on the move and outside of normal business hours. It added that the bank had committed £350m over the next two years to bring together this shift to digital.

Gavin Opperman, Customer Banking Director, 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.

“The changes announced today continue our journey towards a model that combines an enhanced digital platform with a right sized branch network; allowing customers to interact with us through a wide range of channels – mobile, online, telephone, in-branch – whenever and however they want.”

The Knottingley branch is expected to close on May 16 and the nearest remaining facility will be in Pontefract.

Normanton’s closure date is set for May 18 and from then on, people can access the closest branch in Castleford.

And the Ossett branch is earmarked for closure on June 15. The nearest branch thereafter will be Dewsbury.