A major high-street bank with branches in Saltcoats, Irvine and Ayr has announced it will close 73 branches in Scotland, with 300 jobs in jeopardy.

TSB plans to reveal the locations of the closures later today after impacted employees are informed.

The move is part of the bank's three-year strategy it announced in November last year.

UPDATES: North Ayrshire branches to close, Cumnock TSB bank branch to close, and South Ayrshire branches to close

Saltcoats and Kilbirnie’s TSB branches had their opening hours cut to a three-day week last year.

Ayrshire has seen closures of high-street bank locations across the region in recent years, leaving older and non-online customers without the same service they used to rely on.

The changes have been driven by a significant change in customer behaviour, including a reduction in the numbers using branches and a more moving to online banking.

A TSB spokesperson said branches earmarked for closure have been selected to ensure 94 per cent of customers in Scotland remain within 20 minutes travel time of a branch. 

The bank is set to cut around 300 branch-related jobs, although it points out 100 IT roles were created earlier this year at its tech hub in Edinburgh to meet demand for the bank’s digital services.

Robin Bulloch, customer banking director at TSB, said: “These decisions are the most difficult we take, but we must always be guided by our customers - and we are clearly witnessing a substantial shift towards digital banking.

“We operate a more extensive branch network than most other banks in Scotland, including some much larger than TSB, and we need to reduce its size to reflect the changing needs of our customers and a fast-evolving operational environment. 

“TSB remains committed to offering high quality banking services in branches across Scotland. We are also introducing mobile advisers to ensure we look after vulnerable customers and those in rural locations.

“We are working to ensure the transition towards digital – which is being seen right across the economy – is handled sensitively and pragmatically for our colleagues and customers.”