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The move comes after a similar announcement by the Royal Bank of Scotland that it would close several of its branches across Scotland.

The current closure will affect the bank’s branches in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paisley and Aberdeen.

BBC quoted a bank spokesperson as saying: "Our focus has been on urban areas where there is another Bank of Scotland branch nearby.

"Branches continue to play an important role for us."

The bank said that the decision was a result of the strategic review of its business that was conducted in October, 2014.

Of the closed banks, four are in Glasgow (Duke Street, Muirend, Glasgow Cross and Hillhead), seven in Edinburgh (Marchmont, Blackhall, Fairmilehead, St James, Holyrood, Murrayfield and Sighthill) and one is in Aberdeen (Torry).

While the bank has not revealed how it plans to redeploy the employees in the affected banks, it said the closure would not result in any redundancies.

The Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland has expressed its concerns about the decision and has criticised the closure of the branches.

Federation of Small Businesses Scotland external affairs head Colin Borland was quoted by the news agency as saying: "While we support the use of technology to provide better services, businesses need locations to deposit and withdraw cash.

"Bank branches also provide important footfall to our high streets. Business owners want to look their manager in the eye when they do deals and develop relationships. We urge Scotland’s big banks to revisit this decision and pledge to stop abandoning small town Scotland."


Image: The headquarters of Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh. Photo: courtesy of Rept0n1x.