A BANK has announced it will close four of its branches in the county this year.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to close 162 branches in England and Wales, resulting in 792 job losses. 

The branches that will close in Sussex are in Worthing, Horsham, Crawley and Chichester. 

The lender, which is still 72 per cent owned by the taxpayer, said the move was linked to it not having to sell its Williams and Glyn business. 

The group is now looking to reduce overlaps due to having branches in close proximity to each other. 

RBS said: "Following a review of the branch network in England and Wales a decision has been taken to close 162 Royal Bank of Scotland branches. 

"As a result of this process, around 792 roles will be made redundant, and we will seek to support our colleagues with the option to leave on a voluntary basis." 

Last year, the bank avoided the compulsory sale of Williams and Glyn, which had been ordered by regulators as part of the bank's obligations under state aid rules following its £45 billion Government bailout after the financial crisis.

Instead, RBS will put up money to be shared among so-called "challenger banks" to help them better compete with bigger players. 

The closures will come as RBS reintegrates Williams and Glyn, including its branch network, back into the core bank. 

The Crawley and Chichester branches will close in July, followed by the Horsham branch in August and the Worthing branch in November. 

An RBS spokesman said: "We are no longer launching Williams and Glyn as a challenger bank, and we now have two branch networks operating in close proximity to each other; NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland, in England and Wales. 

"As a result we have had to review our overall branch footprint in England and Wales and we've made the difficult decision to close a number of Royal Bank of Scotland branches.  

"Customers of Royal Bank of Scotland in England and Wales will be able to use NatWest branches instead for their everyday banking needs. 

"We now provide our customers with more ways to bank with us than ever before - customers can choose from a range of digital, face-to-face and local options to suit their needs." 

RBS also pointed out that over the last four years, its branches have seen a large increase in the number of customers using mobile banking to make transactions and a 30 per cent reduction in its in branch transactions across England and Wales.