Lloyds Banking Group will close 66 bank branches between October and January of next year, it has emerged.

It confirmed 48 Lloyds Bank branches and 18 Halifax branches will shut down as part of broad trend which has seen big banks ditch the high street and switch to increased online banking.

The additional closures come just two months after the lending giant said it plans to shut 28 branches between August and November this year.

Lloyds said all staff will have the opportunity to move to a different branch or another part of the business and there will be no compulsory or voluntary redundancies.

Visits to the branches due to shut have fallen by 60% in the last five years on average and by 85% in some locations, Lloyds said.

But bosses maintain that well-used branches will continue to be invested in.

Russell Galley, director of consumer relationships at Lloyds Banking Group said: “Our customers have more choice than ever in how they bank with us.

“As our customers do more online, visits to some branches have fallen by as much as 85% over the last five years.

“Alongside our digital, online and telephone services, we’ll continue to invest in our branches, but they need to be in the right places, where they’re well-used.”

The bank came under fire from trade union Unite in May which said closures are abandoning communities who need access to banking, and putting jobs at risk.

Unite said over 5,000 bank and building society branches have closed since 2015.

But Lloyds said it now has 19.1 million online banking customers and 15.6 million mobile app users as consumers increasingly turn to digital services.

It also confirmed that all of the branch locations announced for closure have at least one free to use ATM within half a mile and a Post Office within 1.1 miles.

Once all the announced closures are complete, there will be 646 Lloyds Bank, 510 Halifax and 165 Bank of Scotland branches remaining.