A major UK bank is closing a branch in Glasgow city centre.

Halifax has announced it is to shut a branch on Sauchiehall Street early next year.

It will leave another empty unit on the shopping street to add to big vacant sites on the street like M&S, BHS, Watt Bros and Sports Direct.

The Halifax branch, the only one in Glasgow, has been open for less than ten years after it took over the address from Dino’s restaurant which closed in March 2013 after 50 years to make way for the bank.

The bank has written to customers of the branch and explained it will close on February 5 next year.

It also has a notice on the branch window explaining the closure.

Glasgow Times:

On the Halifax website, it states: “We’ve been looking at the way customers use our branches, as many are choosing to use other ways to bank.

“With more customers banking digitally, we've seen a fall in branch visits. Because of this, we've decided to close this branch.”

It said transactions in the branch are down 52% over the last five years.

The bank said it considers a range of factors when deciding whether to close a branch, including how customers choose to bank, how often they use the branch and alternative ways of banking.

Customers have been told when the branch closes, they can use any Bank of Scotland branches and the nearest one is the Glasgow 54 Sauchiehall Street branch across the road.

Halifax is owned by Lloyds Banking Group which also owns Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Bank, Scottish Widows and MBNA.

The firm is also closing Halifax branches in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.