ALLIANCE & LEICESTER is to close four Kent branches with the loss of 27 jobs.

The 150-year-old mortgage and savings bank announced the closures after a review of its operations nationwide.

The branches affected are Bank Street, Ashford; Hythe Street, Dartford; High Street, Edenbridge; and High Street, Orpington. They are among a total of 46 branch closures across the country.

The bank said that where possible it would be looking to find alternative jobs for the 27 Kent-based staff within the Alliance & Leicester group.

A spokesman said: “Of course, it we can’t find a job that suits their individual needs or where some staff may say they don’t want to seek redeployment or relocation, then we can’t rule out redundancies.”

Alliance & Leicester confirmed that its other Kent branches - in Chatham, Folkestone, Maidstone, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Bexleyheath, and Bromley - would remain open.

The bank blamed changing consumer demand for the closures. Most people now used cash machines, the Internet or telephone, it claimed. It said the branches earmarked for closure were all under-performing. They will shut by October 1.

The review was based on location and the number of customers using the branch, potential sales growth, and return on running costs.

The spokesman was unable to explain why the Ashford and Dartford branches, both situated in areas of massive housing and population growth, had been identified for closure.

He said that the branches affected accounted for 15 per cent of the branch network but less than three per cent of total sales of mortgages, personal loans and current accounts.

He added that customers affected by the closures would be invited to switch branch or use the Post Office.

The closure programme will result in a one-off cost of nearly £10m in the first half of 2004, but should generate net savings of £5m a year.

Richard Pym, group chief executive, commented: “To continue to deliver great value products, we have to focus our cost investment on the locations and channels our customers now prefer to use. Ultimately, great value products are what customers want.

“Times are changing. British banking customers are not visiting their branches every week or even every month. They are finding it more convenient to use the telephone, the Internet and cash machines for regular transactions and are increasingly looking at branches as places for more complex issues.

“Indeed, 80 per cent of our customers’ transactions do not require any contact directly with our staff at all. Our announcement today reflects this changing customer behaviour.

“A strong branch network remains important to us and we will continue spending to improve our network. Today’s announcement does not reflect on the dedicated customer service which our staff provide in these branches.”