The Royal Bank of Scotland branch in Largs has been earmarked for closure.

The banking group, which is owned by Natwest, has announced the closure of the branch on Main Street in the town, pointing to the change of customer behaviour.

They confirmed that 105 people would be hit by the closures as 18 of its 86 local branches across the country are to be closed by September.

It added that redundancies would be done on a voluntary basis and that there would be no further closures until 2026.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) currently employs around 10,000 people in Scotland.

The spokesperson told STV News: “Our customers are using digital banking more than ever before – over 80 per cent of our active current account holders now use our digital services and over 97 per cent of retail accounts with us are now opened online.

“While we are increasingly engaging our customers digitally, our branch network remains important to us. We commit to no further review of our Royal Bank of Scotland branch network until at least 2026.”

The bank said that its digital services had allowed for the overwhelming majority of customers and clients, including the elderly, to access services.

However, it added: “But we know that a small number of people are not yet comfortable with it, which is why we are proactively reaching out to support them with this transition, having made over 200,000 calls last year. We also have experts that they can speak to for support and guidance.”

In response to the announcement, Esther O'Hara, Unite industrial officer said: "The news that RBS is proposing to slash its high street and community banks by a fifth is another massive blow to this loyal workforce and the communities the bank serve.

"Many of these banks are situated in rural and remote communities where RBS customers rely on this vital service. 

"The proposed closures come off the back of RBS closures elsewhere in the UK and we fear this latest announcement is just another stage in the phasing out of banks from our nation's streets in the race to make all banking operations digital which is not suitable or accessible for many customers."

"The proposals raise fears for over 100 jobs and Unite's objective is to ensure that there are no compulsory redundancies.

"The Natwest Group, which owns RBS, is an extremely profitable bank with its latest pre-tax profits rising by 20 per cent to £6.2bn last year.

"It remains a bank which the taxpayer still owns by around 35 per cent, yet there is very little return for the public and no regard for the workforce and the customers the bank is supposed to serve."