MORE than 2,500 customers of Yorkshire Bank in Kidderminster will have to transact their business through Redditch from early next year when their local branch closes.

The Coventry Street branch's closure - on February 7 - will mean the loss of seven jobs in the town, although bank chiefs will be discussing possible redeployment of staff or severance.

Employees in Kidderminster were told of the decision on Tuesday of last week and letters informing customers were despatched the following day.

Kidderminster is one of the final 15 branches nationally earmarked for closure following a review carried out by the Yorkshire, which is resulting in 38 closures in total.

The last 15, which include Bromsgrove, will all shut their doors between January 17 and February 28.

David Thorburn, chief operating officer for Yorkshire Bank, said: "The decision to close branches was extremely difficult and we regret any inconvenience caused to our customers.

"However, for our business to be efficient and competitive, our branch network must reflect our customers' usage patterns.

"More and more customers are finding internet and telephone banking more convenient than visiting their local branch."

Mr Thorburn added there had been no compulsory redundancies so far this year because of the branch closures. He expected most employees to transfer to another branch or elect to take voluntary severance.

He said a survey of customers across the bank's network in one month earlier in the year revealed 75 per cent did not use their branch at all, while 11 per cent only used the branch once.

The 15 branches due to close had, on average, 3,800 customers per branch, compared to the UK industry average of 9,800.

When the closure programme is completed, Yorkshire Bank will have a network of 192 retail branches. It also intends to invest more heavily in developing hole-in-the-wall, telephone and internet banking services.