HUNDREDS of jobs are to be lost after Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank announced the closure of 79 branches, including dozens in North Yorkshire and the North-East.

The Unite union said the closure, affecting a third of the bank's network, would be "deeply devastating" to staff.

In the company's largest ever closure plan, it said the cuts were due to an ongoing decline in branch usage.

Among those marked for closure include Filey, Gateshead, Guisborough, Berwick Hills in Middlesbrough, Norton, Pickering, Richmond, Ripon and South Shields.

National officer Rob MacGregor said: "Staff across the Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank will be devastated to learn that 79 branches will close and consequently more than 400 colleagues will lose their jobs.

"Unite is clear that the closure of a third of the bank's branches will not only be concerning for staff but the local communities which will see their bank branch close."

Clydesdale said, since 2011, the number of customers using their bank for day-to-day transactions across the banking industry in the UK has fallen by a third.

A statement said: "This ongoing decline in branch usage, married to a sharp and sustained increase in digital and mobile engagement, has driven a shift to providing greater access to day-to-day banking services remotely, on the move and outside of normal business hours.

"We anticipate that around 200 Clydesdale Bank staff will be at risk of redundancy and subject to our redeployment process."