A HIGH street bank branch in Leigh will not be one of the 140 that Santander will be closing.

The Spanish banking group is the latest financial organisation to cut its number of branches but the Bradshawgate outlet will not be shut.

A total of 1,270 workers will be affected by the decision with around one third of the staff expected to be offered jobs at other sites.

Santander said the shift to customers banking more online, which has seen a 23 per cent fall in the number of customers using branches in the last three years, has influenced its decision. Digital transactions have increased by 99 per cent in the same period.

Head of retail and business banking Susan Allen said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels.

"As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.

“We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs.

"We are also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible.

“We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years.

"We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.”

A consultation process over the move is ongoing.