A BANK which has been targeted five times by armed robbers — most recently having its cash machine blown off in a gas attack — is to shut.

The Astley Bridge branch of HSBC in Hillview Road will close its doors for the last time on April 29.

The bank blamed the rise of internet and telephone banking for the closure, and said it is not related to the criminality.

A spokesman for HSBC said there will be no redundancies and that it is in talks to redeploy staff to other branches.

It has been targeted by criminals a number of times in previous years. Most recently, in December 2014, the bank was subject of an 'ATM gas attack', in which a gas cannister was used to blow a cash machine off the wall, but no money was stolen.

In August that year armed raiders robbed a security guard who was holding a cash box, before making off and stopping in Old Road and repeatedly reversing their car into the cash box in an attempt to smash it open. They left with a small amount of money. The branch was also targeted twice in the space of four months in 2010.

Staff were threatened with a shotgun during an attempted robbery in January but they left empty handed.

Then in May police were hunting three men after another attempted robbery in which crowbars were brandished.

In August 2006, masked raiders escaped with £20,000 after threatening a cash van security guard with a machete.

A spokesman for HSBC said: "We never take the decision to close a branch lightly, and we understand it's unsettling for the local community. Unfortunately, with an increase in the use of online and telephone banking over the past few years use of the Bolton Astley Bridge branch has fallen significantly, and we've taken the difficult decision to close it on 29 April.

"We have been working with customers who use the branches to help them understand their options, which include being able to use local post offices for their day-to-day banking. There are also a number of fee free ATMs in the area."