The Wisbech branch of Santander on the Market Place is among 140 of the UK’s branches to close in response to the changes in customer banking.

The banks announced plans today (January 23) to “reshape its branch network” following a change in the way people carry out their banking – the Wisbech bank will close on May 2.

After consulting its trade unions, Santander will seek “alterative roles” for the 1,270 people affected by the closures. The bank plans to “redeploy around a third of those affected”.

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.

“More and more customers are using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches.

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

The branch on Newmarket High Street is also set to close on Thursday, May 30.

Santander has said they will retain a nationwide network of 614 branches following the proposed changes.

They also say that all Santander current and business account holders can also bank using one of over 11,000 Post Office branches across the UK.

Ms Allen added: “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.”