SANTANDER announced it would close 140 branches, citing falling numbers of people banking at their High Street branch.

Swindon’s recently-refurbished Regent Street branch was not among the branches set for closure. But the Spanish-owned bank said it planned to shut the Devizes branch in May.

Nationally, one in five branches will shut, putting more than 1,200 jobs at risk. However, Santander plans to invest £55m over the next two years refurbishing 100 branches.

Susan Allen, the financial giant’s head of retail and business banking, said: "We have had to take some very difficult decisions over our less visited branches.”

Banking transactions made in branches had fallen by 23 per cent in the last three years, with customers turning to online banking.

Ms Allen added: "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."

Santander’s Bathgate branch will be one of the first to shut its doors on April 25.