Santander in Dorchester is one of the 140 branches being closed by the bank across the UK as it reshapes its branch network.

Santander has announced plans to close these branches, including four in Dorset, in response to changes in the way customers are choosing to carry out their banking.

The branch on South Street in Dorchester is closing, as well as branches in Boscombe, Broadstone and Parkstone.

According to the bank, the number of transactions carried out via Santander branches has fallen by 23 per cent over the past three years, while transactions via digital channels have grown by 99 per cent over the same period.

The company has said it will try to find alternative roles for the 1,270 employees who will be affected by the closures.

Santander expects to be able to redeploy around a third of those affected and will be closely supporting colleagues over the coming weeks as the consultation process continues.

For customers of closing branches, Santander has said they will be supported to find other ways to bank.

Susan Allen, Head of Retail and Business Banking, said: “The way our customers are choosing to bank with us has changed dramatically in recent years, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.

“We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs.

“We are working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible.

“We continue to believe that branches have a vital role to play and we will be refurbishing 100 of our branches over the next two years.

“We are confident that following these changes we will have the right branch network to serve our customers’ changing needs, and we expect the size of our network to remain stable for the foreseeable future.”

Santander’s future branch network will be made up of 614 branches and 100 of these will be refurbished over the next two years through an investment of £55m.

Update: Reaction from Dorchester:

Dorchester Town Mayor David Taylor said: "It's a great shame and I hope they have actually thought this through. I can't see that it is underused because Dorchester is a very prosperous town.
"If it's not being used why aren't they marketing it better? I think the idea of marketing it would have been the best idea to get it used by the people.
"Online is fine but customer service should always be face to face because otherwise you lose the experience of saying hello to someone and giving help where it's needed."

Project director of Dorchester BID, Phil Gordon, said: "Unfortunately there's not a lot we can do about a big multi-national company deciding it wants to close one of its branches.
"Obviously it's very disappointing but luckily there are lots of other banks in Dorchester and they are probably going to lose quite a lot of loyal customers to those other banks now.
"We lose businesses sometimes and it's never a nice story but we shouldn't be too downhearted by it because I think that about 75 new businesses have opened in Dorchester in the last eight years."