UNITE has branded bankers’ plans to slash 250 jobs and close another 36 more branches at TSB bank a “grave mistake.”

The decision to cut more than one in six of its branches comes on top of the 10 closed last year, and forms part of a £29 million cost-cutting “spend to save” programme at the bank.

Twenty-seven locations across Britain — ranging from Lerwick to Torquay, Carmarthen to Cardonald — have been earmarked for closure by September this year, with nine more to follow by May 2025, leaving just 175 branches, six new “pop-up” facilities, and two “pods” to assist customers.