A TOWN centre bank has revealed plans to cut its opening hours for customers.

Santander, in Maldon High Street, will shorten its opening hours from July, the firm has announced.

The changes mean branches will operate from 9.30am to 3pm on weekdays, instead of until 4.30pm.

The bank said branch staff will still be available for prebooked face-to-face appointments between 3pm and 5pm, if customers need support that cannot be provided through alternative channels or earlier in the day.

The shake-up will also see it move from being open from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturdays to operating a half-day service, closing at 12.30pm.

Branches in Chelmsford, Braintree, Colchester and Clacton will also be affected.

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In total eight branches in Essex will see new opening hours from the summer.

The bank said the number of customers using its branches fell by a third in the two years before the coronavirus pandemic, and a further 50 per cent in 2020 and 12 per cent in 2021.

The changes will take place from July 18 and Santander said there will be no compulsory redundancies or a reduction of employee working hours as a result.

The bank plans to beef up its telephone support for customers and said branch staff will be trained to help on the phone alongside their current face-to-face roles.

There will be no branch closures as part of the changes, Santander said, adding that all of its 450 sites will remain open every weekday.

Richard Owen, head of branches at Santander, said: “These changes will enable us to maintain our existing branch network while providing significant additional capacity to help customers who want to talk to us by phone.

“We have seen a continuing reduction in branch usage over several years, both before and since the peak of the pandemic, with many customers preferring to transact digitally or contact us by phone.

“We want to make sure we have the right mix of channels to help our customers however they choose to bank with us.”

Santander said it will be writing to regular branch customers to explain the new opening hours and to offer support.