Santander has announced the closure of four Cumbrian branches.

The branches in Workington, Cockermouth, Windermere and Ulverston are among 140 the bank plans to close.

More than 800 jobs are expected to be lost.

The firm said it planned to reshape its branch network in response to changes in how customers were choosing to carry out their banking.

It said its future network would comprise "larger branches offering improved community facilities to support local businesses and customers and smaller branches using the latest technology to offer customers more convenient access to banking services".

Santander said it had consulted its trade unions on the proposals and hoped to find alternative roles for a thirds of the 1,270 affected staff.

It said it would be closely supporting staff during the consultation process.

A spokesman said: "Santander will support customers of closing branches to find other ways to bank that best suit their needs, including individual help to find alternative Santander branches and access digital, telephone and Post Office banking services.

"Santander will retain a nationwide network of 614 branches following the proposed changes.

"All Santander current and business account holders can also bank using one of over 11,000 Post Office branches across the UK.

"In order to deliver a branch network for the future, 100 Santander branches will be refurbished over the next two years through an investment of £55m. The refurbishments will include a range of changes with a focus on personal service, convenience and

community engagement."

The bank said the number of transactions carried out in branches has fallen by 23 per cent in the last three years, while digital transactions had grown by 99 per cent in the same period.

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, with more and more customers using online and mobile channels. As a result, we have had to take

some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches, and those where we have other branches in close proximity.

“We will support customers of closing branches to find alternative ways to bank with us that best suit their individual needs. We are a also working alongside our unions to support colleagues through these changes and to find alternative roles for those impacted wherever possible.

“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.”