LLOYDS Banking Group is set to axe 3,000 jobs and close 200 branches, but there's no word yet on whether Dorset branches will be affected.

The bank has blamed job cuts on a reduction in the number of customers visiting their local branch due to the rise of online banking.

Lloyds had already earmarked 200 branches for closure by 2017, but the latest announcement means that 400 will be shut.

The company said they did not have any details of which branches were set to close or whether Dorset would be affected.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesman said: "We expect to close branches across Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and Halifax.

"There will be no regional focus - we will continue to follow our customers in terms of how, when and where they decide to bank with us.

"Whilst we are reducing our network, we expect to continue to have the biggest branch network in the UK.

"Even after these further closures, more than 90 per cent of our customers will have a branch within five miles of them."

Lloyds currently has branches in Weymouth, Dorchester, Lyme Regis and on Portland.