The Baldock branch of Lloyds Bank is to close within six months, it has today been announced.

The bank in the High Street is among 100 branches that the bank has today confirmed will close between July and October – part of a programme of 400 branch closures already in motion.

Councillor Jim McNally, who represents Baldock Town on North Herts District Council, has reacted to the news with dismay.

He told the Comet: “I am really sorry that Baldock is to lose yet another bank in its High Street.

“This strikes a blow at those people who are not computer literate and prefer face-to-face interaction, rather than a ‘nameless’ person on a phone, or computer banking.

“It is a pity that banks seem to be withdrawing from the communities that they purport to serve and does not help to re-establish public confidence in their activity.”

Rob MacGregor, national officer for trade union Unite, said: “The continuous stream of branch closures announced by the UK’s retail bank branches appears to show no signs of ending. The loss of a further 100 local banks will be painful for high streets across the country to absorb.

“Lloyds Banking Group’s rationale for branch closures is the claimed customer preference towards the use of technology across banking. However this simply doesn’t ring true when it’s clear that many customers still value the face-to-face engagement with experienced and knowledgeable bank staff.”

Lloyds, which last week also announced plans to make hundreds of branches smaller, is set to be down to 1,950 sites by the end of this year – which will still give it the largest network among British high street banks.

Its head office has been contacted for comment.