Lloyds Banking Group has announced that it will be closing dozens of high street banking branches across the UK.
As the group, which owns Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland, accelerates its plans to cut costs and digitise banking, a total of 136 branches nationwide are set to close permanently between May of this year and March 2026 – with 61 Lloyds branches, 61 Halifax, and 14 Bank of Scotland branches affected.
Lloyds says its decision to shut the high street branches is due to customers shifting away from banking in-person, and preferring to use mobile services instead.
The announcement that 136 branches are set to close also comes weeks after Lloyds decided to allow customers of either Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland to use the sites across any of its brands for in-person banking.
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The six Greater Manchester branches set to close before May 2026 are:
Lloyds
Farnworth, Bolton
Bury
Newton Heath
Moston
Halifax
Bolton
Walkden
The full list of Lloyds and Halifax bank branches set to close in Greater Manchester has been released / Credit: Unsplash | PickPik
Some of the other North West branches of both Lloyds and Halifax listed to be closing include a number in major Lancashire towns such as Blackpool, Southport, and St Annes, as well as some in Cheshire like Wilmslow and Northwich, and some in Merseyside and on the Wirral.
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Lloyds said that transactions across these particular branches fell by an average of 48% over the past five years, with customers using app payments more frequently.
“Over 20 million customers are using our apps for on-demand access to their money, and customers have more choice and flexibility than ever for their day-to-day banking,” a spokesperson for Lloyds Banking Group said as the closure announcement was made.
“Alongside our apps, customers can also use telephone banking, visit a community banker or use any Lloyds, Halifax, or Bank of Scotland branch.
New Mayor Bev Craig announces £20m fund to ‘revitalise’ Greater Manchester high streets
Emily Sergeant
The new Mayor of Greater Manchester has unveiled plans to ‘breathe new life’ into local high streets with a landmark £20 million fund.
Bev Craig says Greater Manchester has enjoyed a decade of rapid economic growth, ‘outstripping’ every other city region in the UK in the process, but now she wants to make sure that everyone can ‘see and feel’ the benefits of that growth where they live.
The new £20m Good Growth High Streets Fund will be made available to local businesses, business groups, and voluntary and community organisations across Greater Manchester to improve their high streets, and will primarily back ideas that can ‘make a real difference’ to good economic growth and restore local pride.
The new fund forms part of the Our High Streets campaign – which will run throughout her first mayoral term to ’empower’ local communities to revitalise where they live, shop, and socialise.
New Mayor Bev Craig has announced a £20m fund to ‘revitalise’ Greater Manchester high streets / Credit: GMCA | Jonny Gios (via Unsplash)
To drive forward this work, Bev is calling on local businesses and groups to join a new High Streets Taskforce, which will help design the ‘ambitious’ plans for the fund and put them into practice across the city region.
Bev launched her high street plans in Middleton yesterday, where she said the ‘passion and ambition’ of local people and the independent business community are already leading to a transformation of the town centre, and there’s potential of even more to come.
“Our high streets are the beating hearts of our communities, and people want to feel pride about where they live,” commented Mayor Bev Craig.
“They are rightly worried and frustrated when they see derelict pubs, boarded-up shops, and dodgy operators, and independent traders moving away. They want to see practical support for local businesses now and that’s why I’m taking action.
“Our new £20 million Good Growth High Streets Fund is all about restoring pride in a vibrant high street, backing our neighbourhoods, and spreading the rewards of good economic growth everywhere.”
The Good Growth High Streets Fund will open for applications later this year.
Featured Image – GMCA
News
Student police officer charged with off-duty rape and kidnap of woman in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
A student police officer has been charged with the rape and kidnap of a woman in Manchester while he was off duty.
Mohammad Hassan, 23-years-old and of Asian-Pakistani ethnicity, has been remanded in custody following the charges, and has been suspended Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
The charges – which have been authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following a police investigation – relate to reports made to authorities on the evening of Saturday 8 August 2026, which ended in a police pursuit on the M62 in West Yorkshire.
Following the police pursuit, a woman was safeguarded at the scene, and continues to be supported by specialist officers and support services.
Hassan has been charged with oral rape, kidnap, strangulation, sexual assault, theft of mobile phone, and dangerous driving.
He is set to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court today (11 August).
“GMP detectives and staff have been working on this investigation throughout the last 48 hours to ensure charges are brought in this case,” explained GMP Assistant Chief Constable, Mark Dexter.
“The victim is our priority, and we are ensuring she continues to receive specialist support. Criminal proceedings must now take its course without interference.
“I understand, and share, the feeling among the public and our thousands of hard-working, decent staff who will have seen this news. Proceedings are underway and necessary action will be decisively taken within the regulations.”
Emily Sergeant -
30th January 2025 
