More than 6,000 UK bank branches closed with Yorkshire hit the hardest

The UK has lost over 6,000 bank branches in the last nine years, with Yorkshire residents having to share their local branch with 22,557 others.

Yorkshire and the Humber now has the worst ratio of bank branches to population in the UK, according to research by consumer group Which?. The region, home to 5.6 million people, has just 248 branches left, equating to 4.4 branches per 100,000 residents.

This means each branch serves an average of 22,557 people.

The situation has deteriorated since January 2015, when Yorkshire and the Humber had 728 branches in total, or 13 per 100,000 residents. Since then, 480 branches — two-thirds of the total — have closed.

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Which? found that Yorkshire and the Humber has been hit hardest by branch closures from Barclays (BARC.L), which has shut 92 branches, HSBC (HSBA.L), with 73, and NatWest (NWG.L), with 69 branches closed, since 2015.

Halifax, founded in the county, maintains the largest presence with 43 branches, followed by Lloyds with 32.

The decline in branch access is not unique to Yorkshire. Across the UK, 6,161 bank branches have closed since 2015, representing 62% of the banking network. The impact has been particularly severe for vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities or those on lower incomes, who may struggle to switch to digital banking.

While Scotland offers the best branch access, with 6.9 branches per 100,000 people, rural communities still face lengthy journeys to the nearest bank.

The West Midlands counts six branches per 100,000 people, while the East Midlands has just 4.6.

Nine parliamentary constituencies in Yorkshire and the Humber, including Barnsley South and Sheffield Hallam, are now entirely without a bank branch, while another six have just one remaining.

Nationwide, 30 constituencies representing over three million people are branchless, with 56 more having only one branch.

Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said: "While Yorkshire and the Humber may hold the dubious record for the worst branch access, this is a nationwide problem. Banking hubs will play a key role in replacing shuttered branches, but their rollout remains far too slow for consumers to feel their benefits.

“The government must hold banks’ feet to the fire to ensure the commitments they’ve made to set up 350 hubs by 2029 are met — and should be prepared to review the target upwards if necessary.”

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Which? has been campaigning to protect access to cash, and new rules introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last week aim to slow the rate of branch closures. Banks are now required to assess the cash needs of local communities before closing a branch and must ensure alternative services are available, such as shared banking hubs.

However, the rollout of these hubs — where multiple banks share a single location — has been slow. Out of 163 recommended hubs, only 81 are currently open, with just nine of the 21 proposed hubs in Yorkshire and the Humber in operation. Major banks have committed to opening 350 hubs by 2029, but Which? argues that the pace needs to accelerate for consumers to benefit.

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