LYME Regis will be left without a bank after Lloyds announced it would be closing its Broad Street branch in May.

The company has put the decision to close the bank down to the "changing way customers choose to bank".

The branch has 26 regular weekly personal and bunsiness customers and Lloyds is "proactively talking" to customers about services the Post Office on Broad Street offers.

A letter issued to customers said: “This branch will close at 3.30pm on Monday, May 15. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.​

“Your nearest branch will now be at Axminster – so please visit us there instead.

“We’ll continue to provide the great service you’re used to no matter which branch you use. But please feel free to talk to one of our advisers if you’d like to know more about these changes.”

The company said that around 96 per cent of the branch's personal customers already use other branches.

A spokeswoman for Lloyds Bank, said: “We have made the difficult decision to close Lyme Regis branch on May 15, 2017.

"This branch has been identified for closure because of the changing way customers choose to bank with us. The majority of customers now regularly use alternative branches or use other ways to bank such as online and telephone banking to complete their banking needs.

“We apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause and have informed customers of the closest alternative branches.”

It is not yet known if any jobs have been put at risk by the decision to close the branch.

The spokeswoman added: "It’s our aim to try and redeploy as many colleagues affected by this announcement and who wish to remain with the business, into an alternative role within the bank.

"Unfortunately we can’t confirm at this stage the number of colleagues who will be leaving the business at individual branches."