MILLIONS of elderly and vulnerable people are being left with no access to cash and banking services as TSB announced a mass closure of its banks today.

TSB plans to close 70 branches across the UK next year as customers switch to online banking.

It said the closures are due to “declining branch use and increasing numbers of customers switching to digital banking services.”

The bank said that its total number of branches would fall from 290 to 220 by the end of June 2022, with the loss of 150 positions.

All staff who work at the closing branches will be offered alternative roles at the bank, TSB said.

Unite called the move a “bitter blow” to communities affected and urged the government to take action to ensure that “access to cash” is readily available to millions of people who rely on cash on a daily basis.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said that TSB was contributing to the closure of two thirds of the UK’s bank branches over the past 30 years, with 4,200 closing down since 2015.

She said: “Unite has consistently argued that local banking and access to cash is essential — especially for those on lower incomes.

“We call on the government and the banking regulators to step in urgently to ensure cash remains readily available in all communities.”

The union called for a “guarantee to cash access” for all, including those in remote and rural areas. 

Unite national officer for finance Dominic Hook said: “One million people in the UK do not have a bank account and about 17 per cent of the UK population — more than eight million adults — would struggle to cope in a cashless society.

“An estimated 2.2 million people — disproportionately the elderly and vulnerable — are entirely reliant on cash on a daily basis.”