A bank branch is set to close in January.

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branch on High Street in Prescot will shut on January 28.

Following strategy changes in its group, RBS says it has made the decision as customers are banking more online or on their mobile phones.

The bank claim that since 2012, 77 per cent of customers bank in the Prescot branch in different ways other than over the counter and transactions there have gone down by 50 per cent in that time.

Figures indicate that around 29 customers visit the branch regularly every week.

An RBS spokesman said: "As we are no longer launching Williams and Glyn as a challenger bank we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other in England and Wales - NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland.

"As a result we have reviewed our overall branch footprint in England and Wales and have made the difficult decision to close 54 Royal Bank of Scotland branches.

"Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales will be able to use NatWest branches and local post offices for their everyday banking needs."

The latest wave of closures comes on top of the closing of 162 bank branches announced earlier this year, which resulted in 792 job losses.

The union Unite have labelled the move "disgusting".

Unite national officer Rob MacGregor said: “It is utterly disgusting that Royal Bank of Scotland has the audacity to announce that yet more important local bank branches will permanently close their doors.

"This announcement heaps further misery on communities across England and Wales that have already seen the demise of local banking services as branches that were signposted by the bank earlier in 2018 as an alternative for customers whose branches were closing, now suffering a similar fate. 

“Today another 54 local communities will lose the vital local bank branch which many customers rely on and over 340 staff will lose their jobs.

"The disabled, elderly and many local businesses will today be deeply disappointed that their bank has chosen to withdraw from their community and no longer provide them with the access to banking services which we all deserve. 

“The latest round of branch closures will reduce the RBS brand presence to just 51 sites, with the North West region yet again losing the largest number of branches.”