Hatfield could be left with no banks following the departure of Lloyds from the town centre and the rumoured closure of the Halifax branch.

Lloyds will be shutting more than 40 branches in the coming months, with Hatfield’s to go on March 1 next year.

Halifax customers have also reportedly been told that the town’s branch will be closing too, but the bank has yet to confirm this to the Welwyn Hatfield Times.

Should they both go, Hatfield would be left with no banks following the closures of HSBC, Santander and Barclays in the past year, and NatWest in 2018.

“Like many other businesses, we've seen people using our branches less frequently in recent years, and this decline is continuing,” said Lloyds retail director, Vim Maru.

“Our branches remain a fundamental part of how we serve our customers but we need to ensure the size of our branch network reflects the number of customers wanting to use them.”

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has reassured residents concerned by the closures and encouraged them to use the new Post Office in the town.

“We are disappointed with the news that Lloyds Bank will be closing their branch in Hatfield town centre next year,” said a spokeswoman.

“The building the bank is situated in is not owned by the council and the decision to close the branch was taken solely by Lloyds.

“We understand how frustrating any bank branch closure is to our residents, but we hope the new permanent Post Office, which has been relocated into one of the council’s units in the town centre and provides personal banking services, will help mitigate the impact of the bank closures in Hatfield.”

Liberal Democrat councillor Paul Zukowskyj has raised issue, saying: “The concern for the town is that for many visitors the reason to come into the town centre is disappearing, people, including myself, used to need to do some banking bits and pieces face-to-face and therefore needed to visit the town centre,” he said.

“That has almost disappeared completely. I now have to go to Welwyn Garden City to undertake those activities.

“For many others, they are unable or find difficulty undertaking their banking needs online, and for some they struggle to get online at all.”