Lloyds pledge on branches

Lloyds Banking Group yesterday said that it will keep the number of branches it runs in the UK for the next three years.

It also promised not to close any branch if it is the last bank left in a community.

Lloyds, which is 42 per cent owned by the taxpayer, has 2,902 branches throughout Britain, but is in final negotiations to sell 632 of them to the Co-operative Bank as part of its commitment to European competition regulators under Project Verde.