IN the latest blow to Grays High Street the Halifax bank has announced it will be closing its branch there.

Closure is planned for 22 June and it is one of 40 Halifax and Lloyds sites to close nationally, owner Lloyds Banking Group has said.

The group said there were no job losses as a result of the closures.

A statement says the number of people using services in-person at the branch has fallen by around 50 per cent in the past five years as more people do their banking online.

"Branches play an important part in our strategy but we need to have them in the right places, where they are well-used," a group spokesperson said.

The bank added that all of the branches due to close have at least one free-to-use cash machine or a Post Office within a third of a mile.

No announcement has been made about what will happen to the Grays High Street site, the bank has an agreement to lease the building until 2032. 

The closure leaves Halifax with just one branch in Thurrock, at Lakeside shopping centre.