LLOYDS Bank has spoken out about the sudden closure of one of its branches in Herefordshire.

Customers were left surprised when a notice stuck to the front door of the bank said it was closed until further notice.

Lloyds, which has branches in Hereford, Leominster and Bromyard, as well as further afield in Presteigne, Ludlow and Monmouth, said the branch had now reopened.

The unexpected closure of Lloyds' Bromyard branch on Monday was believed to be due to staff being unwell.

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A spokesperson said: "Our Bromyard branch has reopened after resourcing issues forced us to close for a few days this week.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.”

When bank branches do close temporarily, customers can use online and telephone banking as usual, as well as use the Post Office for most banking.

Last month, Lloyds Banking Group has said it was planning to shut 60 branches across the country, adding to recent closures as customers choose to sort their finances online.

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The lending giant said it would close 24 Lloyds branches, as well as 19 Bank of Scotland and 17 Halifax sites, but Herefordshire banks were safe.

The branches are thought to employ 124 people, but Lloyds said it would try to find affected staff new roles within the company.

The bank said it had seen a 27 per cent rise in use of its mobile banking app over the last two years, and a 12 per cent rise in regular users of its online banking system.

Now 18.6 million people regularly bank online and 15 million use the mobile app.