Chorley's HSBC bank to close in July

The bank said it did not expect to make any redundancies, with staff to be redeployed to other branches within 15 miles of their homes.

The nearest branch to Chorley is 5.5 miles away in Leyland, whilst other branches will remain open in Preston, Wigan and Blackburn.

The Market Street branch is among 82 HSBC banks to close across the UK between April and September this year, with bosses claiming customers are increasingly turning to digital banking.

HSBC said the Chorley branch will close in July, but has not provided an exact date at this stage.

The closures will leave HSBC with 511 branches across the country.

Campaigners say that local branches provide a lifeline for those who need access to cash and face-to-face services, and allow small businesses to bank without too much disruption to their own trade.

HSBC said all but one of the branches earmarked for closure were within one mile of a Post Office, where these day-to-day transactions could be carried out.

HSBC said the Covid-19 pandemic has led to a greater shift to online banking, but insisted the closures were not entirely related to the lockdowns and restrictions introduced.

Even when discounting the effects of the pandemic, it said the number of customers using its branches had fallen by a third in the past five years, with 90% of all customer enquiries made over the phone, internet or smartphone app.

Jackie Uhi, HSBC UK's head of network, said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has emphasised the need for the changes that we are making.

"It hasn't pushed us in a different direction but reinforces the things that we were focusing on before and has crystallised our thinking. This is a strategic direction that we need to take to have a branch network fit for the future."