Orpington’s Halifax bank is set to close its doors for good in spring next year after further cuts to branches.

The branch on Orpington High Street will permanently close on March 12, 2024.

The closure comes as Lloyds Banking Group announced that it is closing 45 branches across its network and the Halifax and Bank of Scotland brands - including a venue in Dartford.

The company claims that due to the shift away from high-street banking.

The group is closing 22 Halifax branches, 19 Lloyds branches and four in the Bank of Scotland business.

The Orpington branch offers a range of services including internal and 24-hour external cash machines for withdrawals, a paying-in machine for deposits, counter service for personalized assistance, travel money, Wi-Fi, and digital assistance to guide customers through online banking.

Lloyds stressed that all affected branch staff will be offered other roles at another branch or in a different part of the business, with no compulsory redundancies planned.

It comes just a week after NatWest Group said it plans to shut another 19 branches, mostly in the early part of next year.

The latest closures take the total number of high street branches shut across the sector to 623 so far this year.

Lloyds is set to close the bulk of the branches in March and April next year, with some also closing in August and a tranche in November.

It means that at least 276 branches will be shut across Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland this year and next.

The closures announced will leave the group with 515 Lloyds Bank branches, 413 Halifax and 133 Bank of Scotland sites.

There has been a massive exodus of branches from the high street in recent years.

The largest number of closures announced this year have been Barclays branches, with the bank saying 185 of its sites are set to shut.

Lloyds is second with 131, followed by NatWest with 116, Halifax with 94, Virgin Money with 40, Bank of Scotland with 32, Ulster Bank with 10, TSB with nine, Royal Bank of Scotland with five, and one Nationwide branch.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesman said: “The way customers choose to bank with us has changed rapidly in recent years, and we now offer a wide range of options for their everyday banking needs.

“This includes our mobile app, online and over the phone.

“Customers can also bank with us through the Post Office, in a Banking Hub, or by speaking to a Community Banker.”

Consumer group Which? said banking customers are being “left on a cliff-edge” by the swathes of banking closures and called for a faster rollout of community banking hubs.

Jenny Ross, Which? money editor, said: “These closures are yet another nail in the coffin for the UK’s high street banking infrastructure and will see some towns lose more than one bank within a matter of days or weeks – suggesting little thought has been given to the impact on the communities they serve.

“With more than 170 branches already due to close in 2024, on top of the 5,783 branches that have closed since January 2015, consumers are being left on a cliff-edge as in-person banking services are axed from their communities.”

She added: “Banking hubs could play an important role in this, but the rollout is taking far too long and more hubs must open as soon as possible to stop millions of consumers being left behind.”