SANTANDER has confirmed its Northwich branch will reduce its opening hours from July.

Instead of being open from 9.30am to 4pm on Saturdays, the bank, on Witton Street, will operate on a half-day service – closing at 12.30pm instead.

As well as Northwich, more than 300 of the branches will be making the same changes.

The move is part of a wider shake-up of changes to opening hours being introduced by the bank from July 18.

The government high streets task force expert and ShopAppy founder Dr Jackie Mulligan said: “Banks bring all-important footfall to the UK’s high streets so this is yet another blow to the small independent retailers that line them. 

“In recent months, we have seen a number of banks announce branch closures and this news from Santander is another significant blow to retailers around the UK.

“It also comes at a time when inflation and rising energy bills are squeezing people’s spending power in a way we haven’t seen for decades, which is again hitting local shops hard.

“The shift to digital banking is irreversible, but so, too, is the damage caused by banks reducing their presence or opening hours on our high streets.

“Our message to consumers is, if you have less to spend, spend it wisely, not with the online giants but with the local businesses that are the bedrock of your communities. Right now, they are depending on your custom more than ever."

Here is a list of locations provided by Santander, where branch opening hours will be moving to half day opening on Saturdays:

Aberdeen

Abingdon

Altrincham

Andover

Armagh

Ashford

Ashton-Under-Lyne

Aylesbury

Ayr

Ballymena

Banbury

Bangor, Wales

Bangor Main Street, Northern Ireland

Barkingside

Barnet

Barnsley

Barnstaple

Barrow

Basildon

Basingstoke

Bath

Bedford

Belfast

Beverley

Bexleyheath

Billericay

Birkenhead

Birmingham King's Heath

Birmingham Union Street

Bishops Stortford

Blackburn

Blackpool

Bluewater Park

Blyth

Bognor Regis

Bolton

Borehamwood

Bournemouth

Bracknell

Bradford

Braintree

Brent Cross

Brentwood

Bridgend

Bridgwater

Brighton

Bristol, The Galleries

Bristol Kingswood

Brixton

Bromley

Burgess Hill

Burnley

Burton Upon Trent

Bury St Edmunds

Bury

Camberley

Cambridge

Camden Town

Canterbury

Canvey Island

Cardiff

Carlisle

Chatham

Chelmsford

Cheltenham

Chester

Chesterfield

Chichester

Chippenham

Chorley

Christchurch

Cirencester

Clacton

Clapham Junction

Colchester

Colwyn Bay

Cookstown

Coventry

Crawley

Crewe

Croydon George Street

Croydon North End

Cumbernauld

Darlington

Dartford

Derby St Peters Street

Derby Market Place

Didsbury

Doncaster

Dover

Downpatrick

Dudley

Dumfries

Dundee

Dunfermline

Dunstable

Durham

Ealing

East Ham

East Kilbride

Eastbourne

Eastleigh

Edgware Road

Edgware

Edinburgh

Elgin

Eltham

Enfield

Epsom

Evesham

Exeter

Falmouth

Fareham

Farnborough

Farnham

Finchley

Folkestone

Formby

Gateshead Metro

Glasgow Argyll Street

Glasgow Byres Road

Glasgow Newton Mearns

Glasgow Rutherglen

Glengormley

Gloucester

Golders Green

Gosport

Gravesend

Greenford

Grimsby

Great Yarmouth

Guildford

Halifax

Hammersmith

Harlesden

Harlow

Harrogate

Harrow

Hartlepool

Hastings

Hemel Hempstead

Hereford

Heswall

High Wycombe

Hoddesdon

Holloway

Hornchurch

Horsham

Hounslow

Hove

Huddersfield

Hull

Huntingdon

Ilford

Inverness

Ipswich

Islington

Keighley

Kendal

Kensington

Kettering

Kidderminster

Kilburn

Kings Lynn

Kingsbury

Kingston

Kirkby

Lakeside

Lancaster

Larne

Leamington Spa

Leeds Briggate

Leicester Clocktower

Leigh

Leighton Buzzard

Lewisham

Lincoln

Lisburn

Liverpool Allerton Road

Liverpool Lord Street

Liverpool Old Swan

Llanelli

Londonderry

Loughborough

Loughton

Lowestoft

Lurgan

Luton

Lytham St Annes

Macclesfield

Maidenhead

Maidstone

Maldon

Manchester Piccadilly Gardens

Mansfield

Middlesbrough

Milton Keynes

Morpeth

Neath

Newark

Newbury

Newcastle

(City of) Newport, South Wales

Newport, Isle of Wight

Newry

Newton Abbot

Newtownards

Northallerton

Northampton

Northwich

Norwich

Nottingham

Oldham

Ormskirk

Orpington

Oswestry

Oxford

Paisley

Palmers Green

Peckham

Perth

Peterborough

Plymouth

Pontefract

Pontypridd

Poole

Portsmouth

Preston

Pudsey

Ramsgate

Rayleigh

Reading

Redditch

Retford

Richmond

Rochdale

Romford

Rotherham

Rugby

Ruislip

Salisbury

Scarborough

Scunthorpe

Sevenoaks

Sheffield Fargate

Sheffield Meadowhall

Shipley

Shirley

Shrewsbury

Sittingbourne

Slough

Solihull

Southall

Southampton

Southend

Southport

Spalding

St Albans

St Austell

St Helens

Stafford

Staines

Stamford

Stevenage

Stirling

Stockport

Stockton

Stoke-on-Trent

Stourbridge

Stratford London

Streatham

Sunderland

Surrey Quays

Sutton

Sutton Coldfield

Swansea

Swindon

Tamworth

Taunton

Telford

Tonbridge

Tooting

Torquay

Trowbridge

Truro

Tunbridge Wells

Urmston

Uxbridge

Wakefield

Wallington

Walsall

Walthamstow

Warrington

Washington

Waterlooville

Watford

Wellingborough

Wembley

West Bromwich

Weston-Super-Mare

Whitehaven

Widnes

Wigan

Willerby

Wimbledon

Winchester

Woking

Wolverhampton

Wood Green

Woolwich

Worcester

Worksop

Worthing

Wrexham

Yeovil

York